Dear Prudence,
I have started being more mindful of my alcohol consumption. It helps to have periods where I don’t drink at all. I still like to go out, but when I say I am not drinking, my co-workers and friends often want to have an extended conversation about it. They ask me why I’m not drinking or tell me long, involved stories about times they quit drinking or drunken revels they’ve had. I find these conversations uncomfortable. What’s a good way to defuse them? Why is it so uncomfortable to talk about alcohol consumption?
—Taciturn Teetotaler