# Drinking alone **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 30, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412 "2012-04-30T14:28:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/21 "2012-04-30T20:10:53Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#): > > _Low hanging fruit_ > > The difference is, alcoholics go to meetings! AA is for quitters. I AM NOT A QUITTER!!! ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/22 "2012-04-30T20:17:49Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > So sitting on the porch and having a nice cold beer after I mow the lawn makes me an alcoholic? > I guess I need to go tell every other guy on my block we all have a problem. Prove to me you’re not just in denial. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/23 "2012-04-30T20:23:37Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > Prove to me you’re not just in denial. 😃 _hic_ There’s not a crocodile in sight. _hic_ ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/24 "2012-04-30T21:09:02Z")
For me, drinking is mostly a social event - I just don’t think to open a beer when I’m by myself. However, if I do want to drink, I never worry about the stigma of drinking alone. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/25 "2012-04-30T21:14:45Z")
This thread is making me want to drink. Alone. Which I’m sure I will be doing before it gets dark! ---
**Author:** ![Waxwinged](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c2a13f/32.png) [@Waxwinged](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waxwinged)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/26 "2012-04-30T21:55:52Z")
I have a beer or two a night alongside the hubby, and once in a while- alone. He home-brews, and I love the way most of his stuff tastes. It’s not the drinking alone that’s bad, it’s the drinking alone and inability to stop after a couple of beers. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/27 "2012-04-30T21:57:03Z")
I like good beer. I go to a beer conosieur bar. But I’m not necessarily there to interact. I sometimes do work at the bar, post on FB, read, etc. Other times I’m telling jokes, swapping work stories, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/28 "2012-04-30T23:16:32Z")
Try sharing a drink called loneliness. It’s better than drinking alone. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/29 "2012-05-01T00:54:04Z")
Only 5 more days 'till 9 o clock on a Saturday. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/30 "2012-05-01T01:35:20Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Try sharing a drink called loneliness. It’s better than drinking alone. You can have a [lonely night](http://www.drinksmixer.com/drink9580.html) to yourself. Non my style; too cloying. I’ll stick with sobbing into my gin. ---
**Author:** ![River\_Hippie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/river_hippie/32/26_2.png) [@River\_Hippie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/River_Hippie)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/31 "2012-05-01T02:35:33Z")
I get pretty drunk at home, alone, most Friday nights. It’s pizza, beer, loud music, laundry, house cleaning night. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/32 "2012-05-01T03:04:38Z")
Maybe the stigma has something to do with the circles someone runs with? I’m older and single and have a lot of older and single friends, or alternative lifestyle friends. It’s not unusual for any of us to post about a current libation indulged in during dinner or after a stressful day. (For instance: Glass of wine and a cupcake, yes, it’s been that kind of day. And mine: Cherry wheat beer with blueberry pancakes for dinner!) We’re not a 9-5, married with kids, white-picket-fence kind of crowd. Perhaps that’s the crowd that labels people with the “drinking alone is a problem” stigma. As someone who comes from knowing a lot of alcoholics growing up (Grandpa, several uncles, an aunt, and two cousins on my mom’s side), I would think my mom of all people would be the first to recognize and mention whether she thought I or any of my friends she knows had a problem. So no, I don’t think someone having a drink with dinner or for stress relief, alone, has a problem or deserves to be thought of that way. Mentioned upthread is the real issue - drinking in secret. People who have vodka stashed in the couch cushions, or carry a travel mug around with alcohol in it, or have little bottles tucked in their purse/bag - those are the ones I suspect with a problem. ---
**Author:** ![Imago](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@Imago](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imago)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/33 "2012-05-01T03:40:37Z")
It could be that to some folks it falls under the whole vague umbrella of drinking non-recreationally. Drinking alone, drinking at work, drinking so you can handle the in-laws… Either that, or like other posters have said, it’s a matter of drinking in secret. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/34 "2012-05-01T04:01:53Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > It’s an inaccurate phrase for “drinking in secret” – which is \*much \*different. Who cares if you’re solo? But if you _have to be_ solo to drink your fill so as to keep others in the dark, that’s clearly problematic, and it’s a sure-fire sign that you need to consider taking that first important step to finding a solid drinking buddy. MHO is that this post nails it. One time I saw a dude inhaling a tall-boy on the stairs up to the train platform on an unused track (at Ogilvie in Chicago). At 7:30 a.m. That’s when you know that you’ve got some problems, not just because you have a drink or two at night. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/35 "2012-05-01T11:25:36Z")
70 some odd days sober person checking in. The problem with problem drinkers is that most of us don’t realize we’ve got a problem, so someone makes a list of all the different ways people justify why they aren’t alcoholics. If you’re not physically or emotionally dependent on it, and drinking doesn’t cause any social, legal, financial, etc., problems, then I don’t see where it would be a problem. For me, the problem was less drinking alone, then using alcohol to avoid issues. So I would drink, alone or with other people. Being with other people didn’t make be any less of a problem drinker. In fact, my wife preferred that I drink by myself at home, since I would be more likely to be able to control how much I drank. (Shit, out of beer and 7-11 is too far away to walk, fuck it, I’m going to bed.) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/36 "2012-05-01T22:08:48Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > In fact, my wife preferred that I drink by myself at home, since I would be more likely to be able to control how much I drank. (Shit, out of beer and 7-11 is too far away to walk, fuck it, I’m going to bed.) That’s pretty much it for me: I don’t drink and drive, so I almost always drink at home. Usually, that means I drink alone. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/37 "2012-05-01T22:24:10Z")
I regularly drink alone. Watching a couple of movies. I _do_ have a problem. Its usually I can’t remember the end of the second movie… ---
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/38 "2012-05-02T01:23:58Z")
This reminds me of when my brother expressed concern over my drinking a beer at 8 in the morning. Now, it’s true that in most cases drinking that early is a problem. However, at the time I was working 3rd shift and got off work at 7 AM. It was really no different than someone who works until 4 PM having a drink at 5 PM. Some people just apply rules without understanding the reason for the rule in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/39 "2012-05-02T04:39:26Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > This reminds me of when my brother expressed concern over my drinking a beer at 8 in the morning. Now, it’s true that in most cases drinking that early is a problem. However, at the time I was working 3rd shift and got off work at 7 AM. It was really no different than someone who works until 4 PM having a drink at 5 PM. > > Some people just apply rules without understanding the reason for the rule in the first place. Exactly, and some people look at the rules technically, to help their denial. You can hear: “Sure, I’ve had 17 DUI’s, eight divorces and got fired from all my jobs, but I NEVER drink in the morning or by myself, so I’m not an alcoholic.” ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412/40 "2012-05-02T04:40:50Z")
> [@TokyoPlayer](#): > > Exactly, and some people look at the rules technically, to help their denial. You can hear: “Sure, I’ve had 17 DUI’s, eight divorces and got fired from all my jobs, but I NEVER drink in the morning or by myself, so I’m not an alcoholic.” The 18th is the problem DUI. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/drinking-alone/620412.md?page=3)