Something that is becoming more and more of a struggle as a continue closer to my 21st birthday, is all the pressure to drink. I made the decision at least 6 months ago that I would not drink. Yes, at all. So often I hear " wait until you are 21!" or " When you are 21, we will go out all the time!!". And yet, these people just assume that I do drink. To be perfectly blunt, why would they think I would want to do that? Don't they understand my history with alcohol? Don't they see that my childhood was destroyed because of the dangers of alcohol? Cant people just say " Happy Birthday!" instead of " Lets's get wasted!!". Really. Where did this obsession with drinking begin? Ive heard on commericals and T.V that on average, the first time someone first tries drinking is in 8th grade. 8th GRADE? Why aren't our schools stressing the importance of alcohol awareness? What message are our parents sending to their children? What about kids, like me, who have seen their parents lives ruined because of drinking? And now suffers from PTSD, anxiety attacks...etc.  Is there no sympathy for them? Or kids, again, like me, who have already had a relationship with alcohol and who had to find out the hard way it is a dangerous thing to be playing around with. Is there no support for them? This constant sense of drinking being all around you is incredibly suffocating. It seems I cant go anywhere without someone joking " can we bring beer?" or " Man, do I need a drink".  I wish people had the courtesy to understand that some of us don't find alcohol amusing. It's the same thing as someone saying jokingly, " I wish I didn't have children!" to someone who is incapable of having children. So, to get to my point, think about what you are saying...and who you are saying it to. If you want to drink, by all means. Be responsible, understand your limits, and be respectful of those around you.