Thanks guys, these are all great suggestions. I think my concern is I want them to know it's a permanent thing and not a "tonight only" so eventually they'll learn and not try to get me to drink.
The word "Alcoholic" has a HUGE negative social stigma, so I don't want to go "Hey everybody, I'm an alcoholic!" I don't want to make a big announcement either. People who simply don't drink, don't make big announcements. I'll deal with it 1-on-1 as it comes up. WHEN someone asks me why I'm not drinking or offers me a drink and they're NEW I'll simply say "I don't drink." You're right LOTS of people don't drink for many reasons besides alcoholism. If they know me (and therefore know how much I USED TO drink) I'll tell them "I don't drink anymore." If they ask why I'll just say "I couldn't control myself and kept getting too drunk so I decided it's better just to stop." How can you not respect that?? Sounds like a SMART decision to me! As we all know, drunk people don't listen and repeat themselves so if I get the "Come on just have one!!" ...at like volume ELEVEN even though I'm 2 feet away. I'll say "That's the whole problem, I can't have just one." And then throw in some humor... "And since I don't drink anymore you're going to have to help me out. You are my official designated-drinker. Now buck up and do that shot for me you WUSS!" I think that should do the trick. A drunk person would totally latch on to the "designated-drinker" concept. It'd be like a game for them.
Staying at home or away from the bars is NOT an option for me. If giving up drinking means not going out, then I'm never going to quit. For one I run a Southern California nightife website and HAVE to go out and take pictures to update the site. Staying home sober doesn't prove ANYTHING to me. I see it as a personal triumph to go hang out sober in a bar full of drunks. I actually LIKE it. I relish the fact that I'm sober and in control.... and can magically remember everyone's name. Most drunk people don't even notice you're not drunk anyway. There are other reasons to go to bars besides alcohol: Meet new people, socialize with friends, dance, listen to good music or a good band, play pool/darts. It's really not all about the alcohol. In fact as shallow and superficial as this sounds the thing that gave me the final push to do something about my drinking was the fact that I stopped meeting new girls at bars (and my dating life dried up) because I was too annihilated to carry on a conversation!