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My parents would enjoy a cold beer on a hot day in the summer, but they didn't drink otherwise. My in-laws had wine on holiday/specisl occasion dinners sometimes, but not always. I was surprised to learn many people I know who drink daily or weekly as I got older.
I tend not to drink after getting falling down drunk in college. The effect on me lasted for several days afterward, not just a next morning hangover. It took three times to realize I did not want that to happen anymore.
I think the most alcohol I've seen consumed was at wedding brunch overseas with my DIL's English family. There were bottles of wine going up and down the table constantly throughout the several hours we were there. To my absolute surprise, when we were finished, it was suggested we go upstairs to the hotel bar for a drink.
If I'm with friends or family I like/love, drinking is just part of who they are that I accept. I never feel pressure to partake. I grew up without the influence, so alcohol is something I can take or leave.
Different areas are going to have very different cultural views on alcohol.
Here in Tennessee, several of the counties in my immediate area were completely dry until the last decade or so. Probably a third of the counties in nearby southwest VA remain dry. VA is a bit weird as cities are treated differently - Russell County is "dry," but the independent city of Lebanon within Russell County is "wet."
This area is dominated by Southern Baptists, Pentecostals, and other evangelical denominations that are vehemently anti-alcohol. Tennessee was years behind in the craft beer scene, and still has significantly more alcohol restrictions than Virginia does, at least at a state level.
In Indiana, cold beer cannot be sold other than in liquor stores, and no beer is available for retail sale on Sunday, unless it is purchased at the same site where it is made. You can't go to Costco and buy beer on Sundays - it's completely prohibited. If you go to a brewery that brews on site, you can buy all you like. Indiana is also a pretty religious/conservative state, though not to the tune that we are here in Appalachia.
In Iowa, the culture was completely different. It was not uncommon for people to have a couple of beers at lunch where I worked. People would get completely plastered in bars (levels that would get you a public intoxication in the South) and cabs would be called/arrangements made to get them home. You'd have to be making a complete fool of yourself out there to get a PI/DUI, but here, the law likes to hand them out. I think the permissiveness comes from the German influence.
I rarely saw anyone even pulled over for general traffic enforcement in the Midwest. Traffic enforcement overall is much more aggressive here. Here in Tennessee and Virginia, random sobriety checkpoints are common. My dad works until 2:00 AM, and was pulled over coming out of a 24 hour bakery by some of Bristol, VA's finest two weeks just to "check him out." He wasn't DUI, but just being out that late made the officers think they had probable cause for a traffic stop.
I am 75, a widower, and retired. I typically have two scotches between 5 to 7pm then I have supper. Some would say that is a drinking problem but they are saying it, not me....LOL
Do you drink alone?
No, the cat sits in my lap.
Do you have a drink first thing in the morning?
No, I brush my teeth first.
LOL! We needed some humor injected into this thread! I never understood the whole drinking-alone condemnation. There's not always another person there when you need 'em.
In other news, a relative (60s) has just been diagnosed with aggressive liver cancer and given 2 to 3 weeks to live. Never touched a drop. You just never know.....
I am 75, a widower, and retired. I typically have two scotches between 5 to 7pm then I have supper. Some would say that is a drinking problem but they are saying it, not me....LOL
Do you drink alone?
No, the cat sits in my lap.
Do you have a drink first thing in the morning?
No, I brush my teeth first.
I see absolutely nothing wrong with that, as long as it’s not affecting you adversely. It’s just like I was doing, but now I’m not tolerating it well. Perhaps I would be fine with Scotch, which I really like, but I guess I’ll just keep off everything for now.
I scarcely drink. However, TBF, it's not like I don't have other vices... I still eat more FF than I should, too much sugary stuff, I should be cooking my own food more often, should be eating more fruits and veggies.
.
I've drunken when it's free... like gambling at a casino, or if it's already included, but it feels like such a rip off to order it at restaurants. Ordering a drink is often half to double the price of a full meal!
Different areas are going to have very different cultural views on alcohol.
Here in Tennessee, several of the counties in my immediate area were completely dry until the last decade or so. Probably a third of the counties in nearby southwest VA remain dry. VA is a bit weird as cities are treated differently - Russell County is "dry," but the independent city of Lebanon within Russell County is "wet."
This area is dominated by Southern Baptists, Pentecostals, and other evangelical denominations that are vehemently anti-alcohol. Tennessee was years behind in the craft beer scene, and still has significantly more alcohol restrictions than Virginia does, at least at a state level.
In Indiana, cold beer cannot be sold other than in liquor stores, and no beer is available for retail sale on Sunday, unless it is purchased at the same site where it is made. You can't go to Costco and buy beer on Sundays - it's completely prohibited. If you go to a brewery that brews on site, you can buy all you like. Indiana is also a pretty religious/conservative state, though not to the tune that we are here in Appalachia.
In Iowa, the culture was completely different. It was not uncommon for people to have a couple of beers at lunch where I worked. People would get completely plastered in bars (levels that would get you a public intoxication in the South) and cabs would be called/arrangements made to get them home. You'd have to be making a complete fool of yourself out there to get a PI/DUI, but here, the law likes to hand them out. I think the permissiveness comes from the German influence.
I rarely saw anyone even pulled over for general traffic enforcement in the Midwest. Traffic enforcement overall is much more aggressive here. Here in Tennessee and Virginia, random sobriety checkpoints are common. My dad works until 2:00 AM, and was pulled over coming out of a 24 hour bakery by some of Bristol, VA's finest two weeks just to "check him out." He wasn't DUI, but just being out that late made the officers think they had probable cause for a traffic stop.
Every state has its weird alcohol laws. In Alaska alcohol cannot be sold in a grocery or convenience store. Alcohol has to be sold in a store within a store with its own entrance. Convenience stores are built with a counter running the length of the store, from front to back. Go in the left entrance and you can buy your convenience items. Go outside and enter the right entrance and you can buy your alcohol. As for DUI checkpoints, they have been deemed unconstitutional in Alaska. Something to do with the Fourth Amendment.
I often have a cocktail in the evening; average maybe 4-5 times a week. Usually just one, might have a couple at a party.
I like the ritual of cocktails. It's a signal that the day's work is done and it's time to relax.
I was having intermittent trouble sleeping, so stopped drinking for several weeks; the sleep problem persisted. Had a drink last night, slept well. For me, at least, I don't think they're related--but there's enough evidence that they might be that I tried it out.
LOL! We needed some humor injected into this thread! I never understood the whole drinking-alone condemnation. There's not always another person there when you need 'em.
In other news, a relative (60s) has just been diagnosed with aggressive liver cancer and given 2 to 3 weeks to live. Never touched a drop. You just never know.....
I think the point on drinking alone means that you obviously aren't drinking as part of a social situation - you are drinking to DRINK. Sure you can say you're savoring that craft beer or whisky or vintage wine Okay, that gets you ONE drink.
But if you aren't drinking to socialize and are having several drinks, the question is WHY do you want to drink...to forget, to cope, to calm down...? There aren't a lot of positive reasons - especially if you're doing it many or most nights of the week. And of course, don't you have any friends to go out with? Why not? Because of your drinking or other maladjusted behavior?
It's not that drinking alone CAUSES bad things but there can be a pretty strong correlation with other negative things going on in your life and alcohol rarely helps work that stuff out.
In other news, a relative (60s) has just been diagnosed with aggressive liver cancer and given 2 to 3 weeks to live. Never touched a drop. You just never know.....
Quote:
Originally Posted by reneeh63
I think the point on drinking alone means that you obviously aren't drinking as part of a social situation - you are drinking to DRINK. Sure you can say you're savoring that craft beer or whisky or vintage wine Okay, that gets you ONE drink.
But if you aren't drinking to socialize and are having several drinks, the question is WHY do you want to drink...to forget, to cope, to calm down...? There aren't a lot of positive reasons - especially if you're doing it many or most nights of the week. And of course, don't you have any friends to go out with? Why not? Because of your drinking or other maladjusted behavior?
It's not that drinking alone CAUSES bad things but there can be a pretty strong correlation with other negative things going on in your life and alcohol rarely helps work that stuff out.
Sand&Salt, You say your relative has aggressive liver cancer and "has not touched a drop." Heavy drinking can cause liver disease (such as cirrhosis). Liver disease is different from liver cancer. Liver disease is deterioration of the liver so that it does not function properly. (smoking can cause liver cancer and pancreatic cancer)
As far as drinking alone. I do not agree with the statements above. Drinking does not need to be for socializing only, or only with others around. Drinking alone is fine as long as it is not excessive or too frequent or in large amounts. And chastising the poster about possibly not having friends and accusing the poster of maladjusted behavior, I find peculiar and inappropriate.
Last edited by matisse12; 12-11-2017 at 02:27 PM..
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Okay, that gets you ONE drink.
