English norms as seen in "Liar,"

[Acsenray]

@Hrududu

They’re going to dinner. They’ll be drinking.

I think the disconnect here is the idea of going to dinner on a first date would mean that one would plan to drink so much so as to be too impaired to drive. Here people commonly have wine or beer if they’re out to dinner, but they pretty much always plan to drive home afterward.

[Hrududu]

Its hard to judge how many units of alcohol would put you over the limit as it depends on stuff like how much you weight etc. But from an article I read recently it said:

As a rule of thumb, two pints of regular-strength lager or two small glasses of wine would put you over the limit.

It wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to split a bottle of wine between two people on a date. You don’t have to be off your face drunk to be over the limit.

Definitely in my circle everyone is aware of the ramifications of getting breathalised and being over the limit. Might not be as common an occurrence in certain areas.

[Baron_Greenback]

@Acsenray

I think the disconnect here is the idea of going to dinner on a first date would mean that one would plan to drink so much so as to be too impaired to drive.

This might be the crux of the matter. Is half a bottle of wine too much? Different strokes, I suspect.

[gkster]

About the original question, I agree with Cayuga that in a big city (like NYC) two people taking a taxi to a date would be unremarkable.

@AK84

Although I never lived in NYC, and have only visited there for work, I do note that many middle and upper-middle-class/professional people seem to use their cars to go into and out of the city. The LIRR seems to be mostly working class and poor.Or the young.

I’m not sure where you’re getting your impressions from, but I’ve lived in NY for 31 years, 10 in NYC and 21 on Long Island. While the LIRR certainly has its share of working class passengers, I know that many people with incomes in the top 5% who wouldn’t dream of driving in from Long Island to Manhattan every day. Traffic and parking is just too difficult.

[up_the_junction]

If she’s spent some while ‘getting ready’ then she doesn’t want to walk.

Maybe she doesn’t want to be picked up (meaning he comes to her place and may expect to be asked in).

Maybe he decided he wanted a taxi because he is drinking.

Who the hell knows …

[Lord_Feldon]

@Baron_Greenback

This might be the crux of the matter. Is half a bottle of wine too much? Different strokes, I suspect.

There might also be a cultural difference in how likely one is to drink that much in that kind of situation. I’m pretty sure the USA drinks less per capita.

[Acsenray]

@Baron_Greenback

This might be the crux of the matter. Is half a bottle of wine too much? Different strokes, I suspect.

I think the issue isn’t the raw volume, but rather the idea of being impaired. I should think a lot of people would want to remain clear-headed on a first date. The idea being that being too impaired to drive is also too impaired for a first date.

But honestly, I don’t drink at all, so I don’t really know what most people’s attitude is on this point. I do know that among my friends and acquaintances, getting impaired on a first date seems to be considered bad form.