# Guys going to bars alone: Do you and what do you do there? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 22, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270 "2008-05-22T17:53:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/41 "2008-05-26T19:40:58Z")
I’ve pretty much always gone to bars alone. Part of that is that I don’t have a big group of friends to go out with, and my few close friends aren’t really drinkers. Also, I didn’t grow up in this town so I don’t have any lifelong buddies. I’m also quite terrible at meeting new people. When I was in my 20s and a drunk I had one or two bars that I frequented regularly. At one in particular I got to be pretty good friends with almost the entire regular crowd. That was mainly because the first time I ever went there I discovered they had an open mike/jam night, and that enabled me to immediately fall in with this crowd of musicians that really enjoyed playing music with a variety of people, and new blood was always welcome. Also, my penchant for comedy songs quickly made me a favorite of the non-musician customers. So while I always arrived at that bar alone, I could always count on there being somebody there I knew and liked, who I could hang out and drink with any time of day or night. Then in my late 20s I stopped drinking and visiting bars altogether and I lost contact with most of that crowd over the next 13 years during which I didn’t drink at all. When I turned 40 a couple years ago I took up drinking again on a much more limited basis - where in my 20s I was in the habit of drinking beer until I was shit-faced every single night, now I restrict myself to going out no more than once per paycheck, and I also limit myself to spending no more than $50. That works out to three or four doubles of decent scotch, which I sip slowly to make them last from 9:00 to closing time. I only go to one particular small bar, which is within easy walking distance of my house, where I enjoy singing karaoke. I still go alone, but chat with the regulars who are mostly friendly people, though I don’t consider any of them “my good friends”. Nowadays, my twice-monthly excursions to the bar mainly provide me with a change of pace and a way to get out of the house and away from my computer. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/42 "2008-05-27T00:17:24Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Going out on your own can be immensely empowering. [/QUOTE] Not to mention that you aren’t constantly tied to always having to wait for your friends to want to do something and always going where they want to go. Plus I think it sounds a lot cooler to call people and say “you should come out here because it kicks ass” instead of “what are you doing tonight…cause I’m doing nothin’”. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/43 "2008-05-27T00:23:22Z")
I don’t think I’ve ever done it, but it sounds like something I would like. Just me in a corner with a pint and a good book. Possibly a small bowl of crisps. I shall have to try it. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/44 "2008-05-27T03:53:47Z")
Also, when you go by yourself it’s a lot easier to find a place to sit. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/45 "2008-05-27T04:07:32Z")
[QUOTE=Cluricaun] I swear that I can hear Charles Bukowski reading your post out loud… [/QUOTE] "my now ex wife was a bartender at the local dive bar - I was looking pathetic and quietly drinking my beer. she was a housewife for 17 years with three kids who just started behind the bar. marriage problems, obviously. I of course did not pick up on these warning signs. I just thought she was pretty. lesson learned." ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/46 "2008-05-27T04:21:41Z")
All the time! Drink some beer. Ogle the girls. Talk to quite a few of them, since I know them. Talk to the bar owners. Run into other guys I know. And depending on the bar, watch the live lesbian sex show. ---
**Author:** ![bat312](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c77e96/32.png) [@bat312](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bat312)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/47 "2008-05-27T05:01:34Z")
I have no problem going alone to a bar. I find one that I like and stick to it, meet the bartenders and regulars, play some Golden Tee. I am a good tipper, bars like me. ---
**Author:** ![Staggerlee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/staggerlee/32/3134_2.png) [@Staggerlee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Staggerlee)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/48 "2008-05-27T11:53:03Z")
I go to pubs alone all the more since having become single. At the moment I tend to go to a fine cider-house which has a good jukebox and a number of rather intelligent old regulars. It’s nice to chat with the old boys, and not have to consider the heartbreak that I associate with my own age group at the moment. Or I go an Irish pub, play pool, and tolerate the relative youngsters. But I’d visit neither without some reading material. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2008, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270/49 "2008-05-27T14:48:28Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Going out on your own can be immensely empowering. [/QUOTE] Amen to that. I went through a phase lasting about 5 years during which I vacationed alone. I have some amazing memories from that time. 🆒 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/guys-going-to-bars-alone-do-you-and-what-do-you-do-there/450270.md?page=2)