Will Hall: Mates pledge support for sober stand
Jordan Mauger and Will Hall at Moa's prospectus launch. Photo / Supplied
Since I've started on Hello Sunday Morning, the most challenging thing is not the most obvious.
I love beer so much that I invested in a brewery when my favourite drop, Moa, went public on the share market late last year.
I attended the launch party of their prospectus in Auckland and I attended it sober. I knew I was going to invest before I got there, so naturally it seemed all that was left to do was celebrate. I took some mates along to introduce them to the most drinkable thing to come out of Marlborough since ... well, forever.
But as the evening went on my mates' reactions to me not drinking was harder to cope with than the taste of ginger beer.
It started with gentle ribbings like: Are you pregnant? Are you underage? Did you get drunk and kill a man? Or I get it, you've found Buddha!
However it seems my resistance has paid off. Because this week I received my biggest show of support since starting HSM.
Two of the aforementioned mates and loose units, Millen Baird and Fasitua Amosa (of Auckland Daze fame), this week pledged their allegiance andjoined me on the Sober Train until March.
I haven't had the heart yet to tell them the sober train won't be reaching its final destination until April 1 (the six-month mark). Hopefully they're not choking on their cornflakes reading this. See you boys for a beer on April Fool's. Until then, enjoy the beauty that is a Sunday morning.
Cheers without beers, Will
Feeling good, staying slim and maintaining a sharp wit after everyone else is a bit 'blunted' - it's a surprisingly successful social formula.
Yes, at first it has its challenges, mainly the perception by your mates that you have converted to wowserism but that changes pretty quickly when you stand your rounds as per normal.
My biggest gripe has been the paucity of non-alcoholic drinks when visiting friends,all too often their offerings have been limited to a flat glass of stale Coke that's been sitting in the fridge for a couple of weeks.
Other than that, it's all real good - no hangovers, a modest weight loss and a good head space. My biggest disappointment so far is not encountering any booze-bus road blocks on the way home from a night out.
On the serious side, a 30 day halt on drinking is a great self-check on alcohol dependence.