In December of 2003, something significant changed. At least label-wise. I could no longer consider myself a non-drinker.

Why had I always been a non-drinker? The main reason was the taste. I've tasted things like wine and beer, and I always found their taste nothing short of disgusting. "Oh but it's an acquired taste" they'd tell me. Well big deal, so is Moxie. There were other motivating reasons to like self-control and non-conformity. In college, I took a look around and realize that drinking was the expected thing to do. But that certainly wasn't any good reason to begin consuming something I didn't like.

I've also been secure enough in my masculinity to have no shame in ordering a Coke at a bar. "Drink this, be a man!" they say. Doing something that's immediately repulsive or self-defeating isn't being a man. It's being a masochist!

Still, the curiosity was there. Had I gotten into a rut of rebellion for rebellion's sake? Ordering a few drinks over the course of last year started to lead me into the conclusion of "No, I'm not caught in some silly abstinence battle. This stuff still isn't really pleasurable. Or at least not worth its price at a bar." I stuck to Coke mixtures, thinking that if there was anything I'd end up liking, it was some Coke concoction.

But then something happened in December, two months from my 29th birthday. On an airplane trip to Florida, I decided to try a Crown Royal and Coke. I was sold!! THIS was something with an interesting taste. When I got back home, I bought myself a bottle.

So I can no longer consider myself a non-drinker. Though I'm still fully responsible with it. My mixes still seem weak by most standards. I also won't drink on an empty stomach, and I won't have more than one drink on a given night. I have never been drunk, and still have absolutely no desire in changing that. But with responsibility at my side, I'm now seeing a strange and beautiful world of consumables that I'd known nothing about before.