As i said i would avoid these situations as much as i can as i am only human and of course i find it really difficult in these situations just like you all do. Unfortunately though if its a friends 50th that i have known for years its a bit hard to avoid.
What i am saying is that we all will have to face these situations from time to time and we all need to develop a way to cope in order to avoid drinking. The more we are organised to cope with these situation the better the chance that we wont take a drink.