Bartender from the US here. Im one of the few people i know in the industry that doesnt go out drinking almost every single night
Yes, my dad was one of them. I haven’t gone to a bar for years but it used to be most smaller bars had at least a few regulars that basically lived there. I remember one old vet that used to show up every day as soon as the bar would open for his daily fix… It got to the point the bar refused to serve him, so he would try and get unsuspecting customers to buy them for him. (This was in the 70’s and 80’s, there were (or at least seemed to be) a lot more alcoholics back then.)
I remember stories from my dad about a guy he knew where the bar maid would have to help him with the first drink in the morning because his hands would shake so much.
The romantic history of the happy drunk is almost entirely fictional. I say almost because I know a few people who are able to take it or leave it, but for the most part the people I know/knew who were drinking either in bunches or daily end up complete and unabridged alcoholics, whether they are active and in serious trouble or have sought help and straightened up, but cannot touch it.
I’m one of the rare happy drunks. Don’t drink often, I’m an extremely quiet person usually. But get a few beers in me and my wife says I won’t shut up but she also says it’s the only time she gets to talk to me. I don’t know why, I can’t hold a conversation when I’m sober. Never know what to talk about, my work life is boring so nothing interesting ever happens.
When I have a few, it’s likeeverything just starts coming out.
You sound very much like me.
When sober I’m Mr doesn’t talk a lot (but I will listen) after a beer or two I’m away with the chat.
I become become very vocal…
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to spend that much everyday, I’ll just have some beers at home for 1/5th the price
The extra price was so they weren’t drinking alone, or to avoid going home.
I’ve never been a big drinker but I have a few places around me where beer is $3. And the actual place my wife and I go if we do feel like drinking is our local VFW. I can get a 24 oz frosty on tap for like 2.50. and a jack and coke for 3. Last time we went out drinking spent like $30 total and we were both drunk
Damn - I’m in Seattle and it’s rare to find $6 drafts anymore.
I remember one old vet that used to show up every day as soon as the bar would open for his daily fix… It got to the point the bar refused to serve him
So he’d go to this bar during business hours to drink. And this went on to the point where they stopped serving him? Something is missing from the middle of this story…
Still do?
I don’t drink anymore, but yeah. Those people you see in dive bars are often daily customers.
Yes, and it still is to certain folk.
I think with sugar and alcohol taxes, a lot of establishments had to change to survive.
It still is. There’s bars like that in every town.
There’s a reason prohibition happened. Alcohol consumption back then was 3x higher than it is now, so it was not uncommon for men to get off work, go blow their paychecks at the bar, then go home and beat their wives.
Back in the day, they’d be getting drunk AT work.
Then they’d go to the bar and get wrecked.
I never did and none of the other men and women in my family neither.
Still is common, most bars have their regulars
I live a block away from my local bar. Go multiple times a week to play pool. There’s a lot of regulars so it’s like hanging out with friends/neighbors.
Yeah. Few times a week I go to mine to chat with all the locals over two or three beers then head home. It’s a nice way to wind down, be out, and socialise at a really low intensity. No organising is needed, just arrive and there’ll be someone there you know.
That was kind of the point of pubs (public house). A place for the community to meet up in any weather and have a good time together whether games, sharing stories, or having a meal. The smaller the town, the friendlier and more tight the patrons are too. Also great places to frequent when travelling, meeting new locals, getting great travel advice, making friends for the few days you’re there.
Yep, been a while since worked at a place like that, but there was definitely a crowed that would be there most days. This was mid 2000’s. Partly dried up when smoking indoors was banned, I think that was the last straw for a big part of the culture that was already drying up.
I worked in a couple of pubs in england back in the 90s and there were definitely regulars that would come in every weekend night and quite often, some week nights.
Yeah. My husband went out to the pub 6 nights a week. He’s no longer drinking - quit last year - finally! (I quit in 2009)
Seriously, alcohol is overrated.
Did this (Mon-Sat) together with a few friends and colleagues in my late 20s. We were regulars to the point of the cook always making something off menu more fitting for regular dinner, as well as no need to settle the bill every night. Once a month everything was tallied up.
Good times. Had to stop though since I found myself going through the fridge on a Sunday once looking for some alcohol.
edit: This was the tail end of the 90s btw, small town in Sweden
Had to stop though since I found myself going through the fridge on a Sunday once looking for some alcohol.
I had a similar experience except I’d open the fridge before work and instinctively grab a beer or start to grab one before I realized I was just there for creamer.
Europeans are pretty active on this mater. I’m always amaze by how much people go to bistro bin France and Belgium. I think this applies to pub in England too. In Quebec, I think it was morr common in the 60, 70 and earlier and fade away with the importance TV and later the Internet took in people’s home. Now when I go back to some small cities that use to have pretty active downtowns in the late 90s and 200Os, it’s absolutely dead. The only bars that survive have a crowd of people in their 40s and more. It use be full of young people, but now I guess they just "flix and chill’…
I worked in a bar for a few years and I saw the same people everyday. They would even come in on holidays if the bar was open. Some of them would blow their whole paycheck, I always thought it was kinda sad.
In the show Clarkson’s Farm, Jeremy Clarkson is looking around, trying to buy a pub. At one point they talk about wanting to have a pub with a little grocery store attached. Clarkson’s girlfriend explained why that was common at one point in Ireland. It was because in the past men would get paid, go immediately to the pub, and drink until their paycheck was gone. If there was a shop attached to the pub, they could hand in an order at the shop before they started drinking. And then, even if they drank away the rest of their paycheck, they’d still be handed a bag of groceries before they were kicked out and had to stumble home.
I had the same experience and did feel badly for them as well. For a lot of them (especially middle aged men in my experience), they just seemed very lonely. I miss a lot of those regulars, they were generally good people.
It’s fairly common right now, too.
How can anyone afford to go to bars anymore? Drinking at home is much cheaper.
Gotta find the dive bars with the specials on shitty liquor and beer
It’s technically considered depression & alcoholism to drink alone in one’s house.
Most people use alcohol to unwind & socialize so they do it in social environments.
Ah found the extrovert
I was just speaking from what I’ve observed in others’ behavior. I literally have never had alcohol in my life, nor do I ever “go out,” especially not to bars. None of that appeals to me.
Ok
It’s not “technically considered depression & alcoholism” to have a drink alone at home. That’s just not true. 🤷♂️
Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt 😉
Very cutesy reply. I see you looking down on people who choose to drink elsewhere in this thread. I don’t know if you think alcoholism is funny, or depression is funny, or if you’re just running your mouth about things you don’t understand, but you’re being a bit silly.
My dad was an alcoholic. And I’m well-acquainted with depression. None of this is funny. And I think people who put poison into their bodies are idiots. That shouldn’t even be an opinion. People who put poison into their bodies are idiots. Period. They’re hurting themselves and everyone & everything around them. Just so they can drink something that makes them feel good for a minute.
I even dated a high-functioning alcoholic for 6 years. Same story. Alcohol was more important to him than anyone or anything else in the world no matter how hard he pretended otherwise.
When I say I’m thirsty it means I literally need water. When he said he was thirsty, he meant he needed alcohol. He looked at me like I had three heads when I drank water. He couldn’t even imagine drinking water.
Regarding putting poisons into our bodies, generally a bad idea unless it’s chemotherapy or something prescribed by a doctor who knows the benefits outweigh the risks etc.
Or maybe I’m just introverted. Kind offensive to assume that I’m depressed just because I prefer drinking alone. I mean I am depressed, but not due to a lack of socialization. Drinking is a lot more enjoyable in a peaceful environment, away from loud music, obnoxious drunks, and potential police interactions.
I turned legal drinking age this year and alcoholic drinks at bars and events is so expensive. $8-$14 for anything that isn’t beer. Not enough to get a buzz for more than 10 minutes. Back to mocktails for me. I also am extremely socially awkward and don’t know how to order so maybe that’s got something to do with it
I also am extremely socially awkward
That’s what the booze is supposed to help with. Whether or not it does is up for debate but it certainly makes you worry less and that’s a huge part of awkwardness.
People think alcohol fixes problems, really it only makes problems worse & causes more problems.
Anyone who thinks alcohol “fixes problems” is probably not a serious person. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone who truly believes that. It’s kind of an absurd notion. Unless you’re being extremely pedantic, the problem is “getting money”, and you’re working at a brewery or tending bar, etc.
Alcohol is, however, an inextricable part of the human experience throughout the world. I literally can’t think of a culture for whom some form of fermented grain/fruit/sugar wasn’t a significant element in their cultural development at some point in history.
People who drink do indeed report that in the height of inebriation, everything in their lives feels quite good & well. Then they report the hell of the hangover the next day, and the craving for more alcohol so they can feel good again. A perpetual cycle of drunkenness that eventually affects career & family & finances & domicile stability.
Alcohol is, however, an inextricable part of the human experience
I’ve never had alcohol in my life. Poisoning oneself does not need to be normalized.
Many Native American cultures did not know about alcohol before it was introduced by Europeans, same in Australia and New Zealand. The many deleterious effects of colonization are certainly “a significant element in their cultural development” but maybe not in the way you intended.
I wouldn’t necessarily say it fixes problems and if it does it certainly isn’t free of cost in more than one way. I do think it can temporarily lessen some anxieties that one might view as obstacles to happiness because they impede one’s ability to engage in meaningful social interaction. I also think that making friends and finding romantic partners are learned behaviors that you need practice to get good at. If alcohol can help you be social enough to make friends in a new place or find a partner then I can see why someone would say it fixed a problem for them. It’s certainly more expedient and cost effective than therapy to get past your hangups would be.
That said, that sort of “responsible” use of alcohol isn’t without its drawbacks and risks. I don’t know how common it is either. Perhaps that’s just what people who like to drink tell themselves to avoid feeling shame about their behavior.
Depends what your drinking and how fast. You find places that have cheaper drinks tend to be the ones where there’s more regulars
Get buzzed first then go out and coast with a few drinks
any area with bars has a cheaper bar usually, my main college bar was hella cheap, always had a deal everyday, most nearby bars had deals once a week or specials for locally brewed stuff that was a lot cheaper than buying it elsewhere. I could black out easily off 50$ vs sf which is like 2 one shot drinks maybe for that amount
$50 is a lot to spend on booze. I can just stay and home and black out on $5 with a beer and three 100 proof shooters.
beer used to be a lot cheaper
And bars/pubs used to be fine with the regulars hanging out in the corner, only buying a pitcher of beer each per night.
