Non-drinker 'chills out' in a boozy world

By SCOTT MacLEOD

Joe Piggin is the rarest of creatures - a Dunedin scarfie who doesn't drink.

Despite that lifestyle choice, which some in the student world might view as a handicap, Mr Piggin was voted Mr Personality at the end of his undergraduate studies four years ago.

The 25-year-old, who is studying for a PhD in physical education at Otago University, recalls flatting with good keen South Island boys whose attitudes to liquor were more in tune with the student ethos.

For three years, a bottle of Speights beer sat on top of the fridge in their student flat, placed there so Mr Piggin could open it any time he liked.

He never did, and cannot recall drinking any liquor apart from a few sips of his father's beer as a boy.

At first, it was a matter of palate.

"I have a sweet tooth, and beer just really didn't taste nice," he said.

"I never had a full glass of it, and never bothered to try."

Peer pressure developed during his high school years and intensified during his first years at university, but Mr Piggin said the jibes soon wore off.

He would go to flat-warmings, parties and pubs with mates, then see them stuck to their beds the next morning.

Alcohol consumption figures taken from national surveys show that 85 per cent of adult New Zealanders drink and 15 per cent do not.

But anecdotal evidence suggests that very few teetotallers are students.

Mr Piggin, who runs marathons, said alcohol did not marry with sports.

When he was partying with drinkers, it was a matter of "chilling out" to fit in.

"A lot of people use alcohol to un-stress," he said. "But I like to think I'm an easy-going guy, so I don't need it."

He had no plans to change that stance.

"I've never known the other side, so it's become pretty normal."