No Stupid Questions

Still do.

I've been alcohol free since 7th April 2023 but it's a stop on the way home to see mates that don't game online.

UK pub that's part of the community. We organise canal cleans / litter picks / quiz nights / charity events etc..

Pubs can be good and you don't HAVE to drink booze. Bars now..... They are a different story I feel.

On a side note I feel the ability to 'legally' drink (without a meal) from the age of 18 stops a lot of the idiotic drinking stuff I always hear about from over the pond.

Pub culture is definitely a thing in the UK though and I wish we had some of these neighborhood meeting places in the US too. They aren't necessarily a place to get shitfaced but to get a simple meal and a beer.

Fraternal/Sororal organizations used to be a big thing up to the 60s with the Elks clubs, Odd Fellows, Shriners, etc. We've lost a lot of that community glue.

I live in England, but maybe twenty years ago I'd go to my regular pub most days, have a couple of pints and maybe some food, socialise with people I'd got to know there.

Obviously that doesn't happen anymore, it's way too expensive now. Going to the pub or out for a meal is a rare treat these days.

Remember, no internet before this millenium, 3 to 7 television channels before cable, no TV before the 50s...

A lot of blue collar workers went straight to the bar after work 3-4 days a week.

I did sheet metal back in the 90's for a year. Typical day... start at 6, off at 2:30, bar from 3-5. Pretty much everyday.

For référence, there is an ancient in my village of 300 inhabitants that isbsaying that in the 60's, there were SIX bars in the village. For 300 inhabitants.

So I guess so.

Also for reference we only have a bread machine now, no shops of any kind.

Yes, even in countries like Austria. Saddest thing was that many men that were 'great pals' while drinking turned into abusers when coming home, making their families co-dependents and their lives hell.

Used to be? This is still common in many industries and localities.

I mean, people still do that.

Worked in a pub in the UK.

Yes, we had regulars. They'd be there nearly every night after work for a quick pint before heading home.

Very few of them would stay for more than one or two though

These neighborhood bars in Boston were real. I had a GF who worked in a university lab where they would go to a bar after hours and she would bring me along. It was an old school Irish bar (even had pics of Sinn Féin members on the walls). I kept going after we broke up and ended up dating one of the woman who bartended. She would pass me free drinks. I was always a light drinker though, I just nursed them. This was mostly in my 20s. I did visit another Irish pub after night class in a different part of the city and the guy working there remembered what my usual meal order was. lol

Sir Patrick Stewart's autobiography has a heartbreaking account of his father's nightly bar visits, and it sounds like he didn't drink alone.

Yes. In my fathers time men would go there often for lunch and after work. I think some went home and then went over for an hour or two. Later it was still common but someone who did it all the time would be called a barfly but almost everyone did like friday night and pretty often thursday or saturday. Its diminished since and more and more bars have to sorta be restaurants or dance clubs or band venues.

I try to go to a local spot once a week or so for the sake of community. It's kinda fun.

My problem drinking happens mostly at home.

I don’t know about every night but I know plenty of dudes who have a watering hole they go to weekly.

I do. Most other people that come here are regulars also.

Not much else out there for community.

me and my friends used to be regulars in a shitty pub where there was a group of older people who would be in there all day every day.

he was probably double my age but it didn't stop him coming over to our table and pestering me and some of the other women.

we didn't go in too frequently but the staff recognised us as regulars. we had to stop because some nasty people would come in on a specific day and one of our group wqs afraid of running into them.

Depends on the person. I think it was more common 20-30 years ago than now in some places.

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

Such a vague question merits the default It Depends™.

If I could afford it I would. Better than going home and sitting on my ass playing video games or whatever. Bars around here are too expensive though (just like everything else). I could drink for a month at home on what I spend for 1 trip to the bar.

When I was in my 20s I frequented a local bar a few times a week and always thought it'd be cool if the bartender would just know what my usual drink was. Turns out that was not a great idea.

Yep.

Source: Was one of them.

Yes. I grew up in the Boston area.

Not every night but twice a week I got social pressure to go to the bar to drink. I hated it because those were eight perfect hours that could be used for playing with my PC 🤓

Nowadays I couldn't afford it anymore even if before I was a broke student and now I have a job

Like…um…what are you doing?