About three weeks ago, my office started up a Thursday evening Happy Hour routine. I skipped out on the whole bar scene in college, so most of this is pretty new to me. I’m not really complaining about these observations, but they’re leaving me a bit confused and wondering “why?”
Why exactly is it called Happy Hour? I looked up the definition on onelook and it defines it as “a time of day when drinks are reduced” … but that’s definately not the case here (unless $8 for a Red Bull+Vodka or a $4 cup of Bass is considered CHEAP)
Is it usually customary for bars to have free food? The one we’ve been going to has a couple of tables full of food - snacks to sandwiches to actual cooked meals, free to anyone who wants them, including those from my office who show up and never order any drinks
When the evening begins, I always order and pay for my first drink (3a. the usual tip is $1 per glass, correct?) but once my glass goes empty, SOMEBODY always ends up buying me a replacement drink…often buying them for me and everyone nearby. While this is a generous gesture, is there any other motivation for someone to buy up to 4 other people refills? Am I expected to offer this gesture in the future as well? I’ve received one drink from my manager, but I’ve also gotten them from people at my office who I barely even know.
While the others were GQs, this one falls into IMHO. What exactly is the motivation for some certain people in our group to try to get as hammered as possible? I usually down 3 drinks a night and then I can’t really walk straight, but they’re doing 3 times as much and can’t even talk afterwards. Why would someone want to compromise themselves like that in front of their coworkers? It’s actually making me start to lose respect for them.
One more I forgot to mention in the op. Is it considered bad etiquette to change your drink for a refill? Last night I started with a vodka energy drink, but one of those is plenty for me so I wanted to change to beer after that, and I got funny looks and a “are you sure” from both the person buying me the drink and the bartender.
The original idea was that you became happy due to the ingestion of alcohol.
Free food is at the option of the bar. Though free food at a bar has a long and disreputable history: in some states at the turn of the 19th century, some states banned the sale of liquor except in restaurants. Bars would put out sandwiches and call themselves a restaurant, though if you tried to eat them the bouncer would put a stop to that. Also, the sandwiches would sit out until they rotted (or even later).
If you’re female, people are buying you drinks on the assumption that the drinks will make you more friendly to them (what is meant by “friendly” can range from innocence to potential rape, alas). For a male (assuming it’s not a gay bar), it’s a camaraderie thing, though it sounds more like this is an office happy hour – it’s less likely to happen for a general get-together.
Currently, getting hammered is fashionable. Who can explain the logic of fashion?
I don’t think anyone would consider it bad etiquette to order a different drink. Heck, since beer is probably less expensive than the vodka mixed drink, you’re doing the other guy a favor.
Happy hour was, I assume, invented to get people to the bar earlier by offereing them specials, from cheaper drinks to free/cheap food. Sounds like your bar keeps the drink price high but drops the food price to 0.
The free food is part of the “happy hour experience”. During normal operation, bars tend to offer things like peanuts and popcorn for free.
Generally, when a group of people are sharing a table/stretch of the bar, the people in the group will take turns buying rounds. It’s just easier to order multiple drinks at once, and if you all take your turn, it works out ok in the end. So yes, you should probably be offering to buy a round.
Answers range from “because they don’t know better than to shit where they eat” to “because they’re alchoholics who can’t help themselves”. Without knowing the group in general, it’s hard to answer.
It’s only bad if you switch to a more expensive drink when someone else is buying.
Generally, if someone is picking up a round for the table, it is understood that everyone at the table will end up getting a round. Also, it is polite, if someone buys you a drink, then you should return the gesture.
Some people don’t know how to control themselves. Some people just like being blotto. Hard to say without knowing the group.
2 - Free food is probably on its way out for bars in major cities, although some places still do offer it. I’m betting that there’s a decent amount of regional variation in this – just like in some cities one expects lives music at any decent bar, but in other cities live music would only be offered in a club with a cover charge.
3 - It’s fine to buy your first drink while waiting for folks to show up. Once folks start buying rounds, you’re pretty much obligated to follow suit, or people will think of you as a mooch.
The traditional happy hour is reduced price drinks but in some areas bars are not allowed to have a ‘happy hour’ with reduced price drinks. I belive this is where the practice of the ‘free food happy hour’ started, although I am sure some bars decided it is more profitable to offer free food and keep drinks at full price even if they where allowed to have a traditional happy hour.
Some advice: If you’re in a group of more than 4, try to be the first to buy a round of shots. This way, your work is done for the night. You don’t have to worry about when your turn will be, and everyone will remember that you bought the first round of shots.
Alcohol affects people differently. Some people feel really, really, really good when drinking. When it comes to feeling good, more is better. If this is not your experience, you probably will never understand why they drink so much; likewise, they will never understand why you would want to stop after only 3 drinks. Who could have too much of feeling good? In my experience, some (not all) of these people will wind up as alcoholics. Those who don’t get that effect from alcohol rarely do. I think research is pointing towards a genetic cause for the different responses to alcohol.
Note that many states have banned “happy hour” thanks to the killjoys at MADD, lawyers, etc. To counter this, bars started offering cheap food, like 10¢ wings and whatnot. I’ve never had the good luck to live in a “happy hour” state.
Alcohol lore holds that mixing types of drinks will make you ill. There are even mnemonic poems for the purpose of keeping you out of harm’s way: “Liquor on beer, never fear. Beer on liquor, never sicker.”
It’s polite (and considered something of a bonding act) to take your turn buying drinks for your table. The idea is to allow each person in the social group to demonstrate friendliness and generosity. You may notice in UK movies (I’m thinking of Trainspotting) that there is a sense of pub ettiquette where you’ll often see one member of the group bringing several pints to the table.
If you’re new to the social group, try to pick up the second round – usually the Alpha Male will get the first round* (or if everyone gets their own first round, the Alpha will pick up the first round of refills) and then you can jump in whenever you’re comfortable, but second usually makes you look pretty friendly and gregarious. There’s no shame in being last to get a round, but you should make a point of saying “I’ve got the next one” when you’re the only one left. I’ve also had people give me funny looks when I stopped drinking early, but bought a round for everyone else, so I get the idea that you’re supposed to buy one for everyone else with your own drink, to maintain the polite fiction of “while I’m up, I’ll get you all some, too.” Depending on how many of you are out, sometimes people will do the buying table by table (to cut down on costs and alcohol – if everyone in a group of twenty buys a round, everyone gets 20 drinks!).
looks like Jackknifed Juggernaut is the Alpha in his group!
Happy Hours were once just a way to get people into bars at times when business was slow. They’re the equivalent of half-off for seniors on Wednesday nights, matinée pricing for movies, and the millions of other promotions. They’ve proved so popular that the number of hours devoted to them keep increasing and so the definition is skewing to mean “lots of people at the bar periods”.
Some quick searching before that dratted samclem sticks his nose in here.
I agree with everyone on number 3 except that with my mates and family members buying a round is almost an order for everyone to at least get a round in. While it still falls under the polite category, it is one of those unwritten rules that a beer in kind deserves another. In any respect if everyone gets a round in then you still only pay for your drink (assuming everyone’s one the same). That may be why you were given a funny look at changing drinks especially if you were changing to a more expensive one. I can’t understand any other reason for someone disliking a swap.
Also, along the lines of alcohol mixing (This is all from friend’s experiences, BTW. honest) Having a beer last is a NO-NO. I haven’t ever seen anyone puke up if fruity drinks were their last, unless of course they can’t hold the booze in which case, RAINBOW! And as for Guinness, well I think that’s near impossible to bring up, or in the morning put down.
I don’t think anyone mentioned this yet, so here goes: Happy Hour drink specials also generallyt tend to be on wine (house wine), well (highballs of non-call liquor) and draft (beer). While I realize that Bass “in a cup” would seem to be a draft, many bars would also exlude such beers from their happy hour specials. Also, while non-call vodka could be considered to be well, with a premium mixer like Red Bull, it would fall out of that category. IME, $4 for a pint of Bass or $8 for a Red Bull Vodka is not out of line, especially since you’re in NYC. The most outrageous price I’ve every paid for a “normal” drink was $12 for a Tanqueray Ten and tonic at Ghost Bar in Vegas, but that’s not normal. I cannot explain to you why half of a $2 can of Red Bull and a $2 shot of vodka cost $8 but such are the vagaries of bar life. My guess is, if you went in during happy hour and ordered a Bud Light or a rum and coke, you would probably get some sort of discount off the normal price.
And how much is the lease on the property? Electricity? Payroll? Insurance? Capital items like ice makers and coolers? Not much profit left over, actually.
Hence, the creation of Happy Hour to bring in VOLUME of business and sell lots of drinks wth a 49-cent profit.
