By E Mooney
If you’ve just met some new friends but you’re not ready to share the fact that you’re sober, you can still hang out with them. Take the initiative and plan events to invite them to before they have a chance to suggest meeting for a drink somewhere. Here are some places and times that can easily be void of any alcohol.
Play-dates
If you or your new friends have children, let them know that you’d like to include them for your next get together. People and parents are less likely to have alcohol around when children are present which makes it all the more easy for you to avoid it.
Daytime Date
Schedule events in the daytime when people generally have places to go afterwards. Alcohol is less likely to be on people’s minds during the day and they won’t be wondering where your drink is if you both have to run errands or go home to make dinner after your meeting.
Office Hours
Along with scheduling get-togethers during the day, you can go one step further and plan to meet for lunch during the work day. When everyone’s got to go back and concentrate on work, ordering water with a meal is the norm.
Physical Activity
If you plan to do something together such as go for a walk, hike or meet at the gym, it’s obvious that it won’t be involving alcohol. You can either let them know you have something to do afterward so that it doesn’t turn into dinner and drinks or just use the excuse that you don’t want to put the calories from alcohol back on that you just burnt off.
Late Movie
Find a movie that’s playing at a later time and offer to pick them up. Driving not only gives you an excuse to be sober but watching a movie late into the evening won’t give you much time to go out afterward.
E. Mooney has started a free online classified site, http://www.sobermove.com/Posting/List, for people living sober to find the right roommate by browsing and posting ads of alcohol and drug free rental spaces.
