What to do when a friend brings a bottle of wine and insits that everyone tries it?!
What to do when a friend brings a bottle of wine and insits that everyone tries it?
Not knowing that there is a recovering alcholic and this person will not take no for an answer because she bought some spendy bottle of imported wine.
Answers: take your friend aside and let them know you do not appriciate her forcing everyone to try it. be tackful, but your friend does not need to know there was a recovering alcoholic in the group, just that some people do not drink. personally, I would have told your pushy friend to pi@@ off. I do not like wine and WILL not drink it or even taste it, the smell makes my stomache roll. open the bottle and set it out for guests to serve themselves. A very strong and blunt 'NO THANK YOU-I DON'T DRINK' should hopefully do the trick. But in the event the friend just doesn't get the hint, the host needs to take that person aside privately and request they do not push anyone for a sample for personal reasons. And if they STILL don't get it because they have drunk too many pricey bottles of squashed grapes...ooops, I meant wine, then maybe the full truth of "There is a recovering alcolohic in attendance" might sink in.
Good luck to you! ask everyone whether they wana drink it...if not u can keep it for urself...hehe... Take your friend to the side and inform her how narrowminded she is being and that for several reasons people choose not to drink...religion,addiction, taste, while she may enjoy it, there are others who are just fine with water. She may want to impress everyone with her knowledge and find, instead you can tell her that she may mention what she brought, but it is not to be forced. You can set it out with glasses and allow the guests to choose if they would like a glass or not. when you see your friend come in with the wine. take her and the wine in the kitchen. say sorry but this meal is alcohole free for personal reasons. she does not need to know why. tell her you will save it for the two of you for another time. if she in sits then tell her I am sorry, This is my home, and I will not allow wine to be served at the table. An alcoholic who is recovering, all it takes is one smell to set them off and they think they can have one drink. well one drink and bam they are hard at it. like a person on a diet who thinks they can eat one small brownie not. alcoholism is a disease, and I know the person should be able to resit the urge. but alchole is so strong and powerful. why put you guest in that situation. If the guest is married you may end up offending his wife. Open the wine, let people pour a bit to taste. admire the label, the taste of the gift giver. Leave it out on the counter. Recovering alcoholics seriously working the program won't drink. Not a good time for an object lesson with friends. You can't begrudge someone being generous. If they didn't know there was an alcoholic in the group, that's not her fault. The recovering alcoholic should be learning some coping skills to avoid just such a temptation. Next time, before the party, let her know that there are some people trying to abstain.
I am avoiding dessert right now because I am on a diet. Noone is responsible for putting it in my mouth but me. It all comes down to the will to quit, and so it shall be for the alcoholic. I do think it is helpful to enlist your close friends in not repeatedly hitting you with temptations, but there will always be temptation without social occasions to blame it on! i would decline the wine, and say "no thank you i do not drink" I would assume you were all adults at the party and would assume that adults are mature enough to be direct and honest.
