ArtFriend

I heard people call the non-alcoholic person in their life a "normie"

So that implies that alcoholic are not normies (a.k.a normal)

Isn't that a bit pejorative? I don't want to think of myself as abnormal...

thoughts?

Change4good

I know. I have wondered about that term myself. I think of it as only specific to drinking, as in I can't drink "normally" like other people. "Normal" consumption (in my book), would be enjoying a great glass of wine.

I would have the entire bottle.

MIRecovery

I am a normal alcoholic that is for sure. No better no worse but I am definitely not like my wife who is a normie. My goodness she does stuff like not finish her wine, sips a beer for hours, never drinks liquor. In 16 years of marriage I have seen her drunk once and that was when she drank 4 glasses of wine. These are behaviors I simply do not understand.

Am I normal? Who knows. When it comes to alcohol I am abnormal in the extreme because 90% of the world drinks like my wife and for sure I don't.

tomsteve

What's pejorative????

For me it's not just the drinking. It's the way " they" ( )Respond to life on life's terms.

ScottFromWI

I try to not think about or worry about what others say or think about my drinking. Undoubtedly there are people who will want to judge or name alcoholics ( or any group for that matter ). But that is simply a part of life, and we have no control over it.

I am far more concerned with my perception of my own issues with alcohol and learning how to live without it.

doggonecarl

Do you have a normal relationship with alcohol? Or an abnormal one?

It is not pejorative to have a word that differentiates between the two relationships, though, like many words, can be used in a derogatory manner/

Soberwolf

Hi Artfriend

Is this bothering you or is it affecting your sobriety ?

FeelingGreat

I think it's only used in the context of drinking i.e. you're either a normal drinker or an A. I know for sure I'm not a normal drinker which saves me from having to define myself as an A.

It's a handy term but I wouldn't read too much into it.

ArtFriend

No I am cool... just thought the term was odd is all. Thanks!

Bmac

My first sponsor referred to non alkys as "earth people". I still do as well.

PaperDolls

I think it's just a saying.

None of us are normal. It's just a setting on the dryer.

ArtFriend

Everyone is normal until you get to know them.

Jsober

It's just used for simplification when talking about alcohol. Nothing more to it than that.

Soberwolf

What is normal anyway ?

GracieLou

I have no idea what normal is and I don't think I ever will. Today I feel normal, but am I? I think I do things normal, but do I? I think I think normal, wait, no I don't. Uhh, I dress with one pant leg at a time, that is normal, right?

I wonder what double winners are. We are not normies since we are also alcoholics? Hmmm. See to me the alcoholic is the normal one, not because we are but because I relate to them more.

I guess it depends on what side of the street you are standing on for you to decide what is normal to you.

Sitting here typing on a sober recovery site with plans to go to an AA meeting later is perfectly normal, to me