Why do I get so annoyed by patronizing sobriety stories?

This morning I came across a story, “Alcohol is for idiots,” or something of that nature.

If not drinking alcohol improved your life and you want to share your story — good for you. Share your story. But please don’t be so patronizing. Idiotically patronizing. I ran ninety miles last week as I prepare for yet another marathon and continue enjoying my life’s biggest passion — running. I share my experience, but it’d be silly and arrogant to encourage people to run in a patronizing way.

In the last ten days, I had just three drinks — a couple of small cans of beer after coming back from running, and I finished a third of a bottle of Chardonnay that I had in my fridge for a while. This was on different nights, so this is barely “drinking.”

Call it a dry April. I successfully attempted a similar stretch at the end of last year when I didn’t touch my evening drinks for many weeks, and I’m doing it again now. Why? No particular reason. I definitely see advantages to not consuming any alcohol. The main one is reducing alcohol-induced fatigue, both post-drink and when waking up. Also, it’s a no-brainer to admit that alcohol impairs judgment. I don’t need alcohol to socialize and I don’t socialize much anyway because I’m either with my family or on my own. If not the former, I always prefer the latter because I’m an introvert. So impaired judgment isn’t an issue for me, but I still admit that my head works differently under the influence of alcohol. Actually, I can be more…