Yes, unless they’re at the home of one of my grandmother’s Southern Methodist relatives (but the only one left alive from her generation is now very elderly, and his children do not seem to have followed in his teetotaling footsteps).
Marijuana is soon to be legal in Canada, and it’s legal in several states, so, in several decades, I figure it’ll be normal for people to be serving marijuana at social gatherings just like alcohol is served today.
My side of the family: hardly ever and I’m fine with that.
Her side of the family: almost always wine and beer, rarely hard liquor. And I’m fine with that too.
Family gathering? I can’t imagine any gathering that doesn’t involve alcohol! What is the point of gathering, otherwise?
But why does that make the question “odd and bizarre”?
A good friend is a recovered alcoholic. I have watched him drink and he’ll have one or two, then stop. For a number of years, we (my wife, he and his wife) spent two weeks every year living together in rented house in Barbados. He made a pitcher of frozen daiquiris every night and we each had 2 or three small glasses and stopped. He didn’t drink more than the rest of us and never suggested making more. He is recovered, pure and simple. YMMV.
Our biggest family gathering was at Passover where wine is essential. We kids got grape juice until we were teens. In general, alcohol was available for anyone who wanted it at any family gathering, usually hard liquor, but it was not a big thing as none of us drank very much. Now one of my sons never drinks, nor any of his family, although there is always beer available for those who want it. My other son and my daughter, along with their spouses, seem to enjoy wine with the meals. But it is no big deal.
My family: yes, generally wine, usually red, though depending on which chunk of the family, possibly also a mixed drink or two (Aunt Joan is fond of rum and Coke). Sometimes beer. Generally nobody gets completely sloshed, though my mom has a ridiculously low alcohol tolerance, so if she has more than a glass or two, she’s pretty darn giddy.
Tom Scud’s family is much more about the cocktails than mine is, though they like their beer and wine, too. I really never learned to make cocktails, though. His siblings and their spouses really enjoy tinkering with that sort of thing, but then they enjoy tinkering with all sorts of food and drink; it’s really just an extension of the same tendency.
i’m happy for your friend. sounds like he’s found a way that works for him, but the root cause of his alcoholism is still there. and that’s the consensus of the medical establisment.
We have winemakers in the family, so pretty much always. We have an Australian as well, so beer as well.
Mothers side – drunks and not very good ones at that – so yeah; lots of alcohol. And fights. And arrests. Long before Jeff Foxworthy made jokes about it I knew various cousins and uncles to pop a beer during the eulogy.
Dads side – very light casual drinkers – most picnics and parties are dry for the most part but all of us being into black powder we usually manage some entertainment we probably shouldn’t through a combination of commercial and home-grown pyrotechnics.
The first functions I rarely attend; the second I almost never miss.
Neither of my parents drank, except for a few drinks on New Year’s Eve. If it weren’t for that annual alcohol, neither my brother nor I would have been conceived.
Interesting question! Neither of my parents drank, but when I was a child we might have a bottle of wine to share among 5 to 10 people at Christmas and/or Thanksgiving. Even as children we were allowed a small amount of the wine.
In my ex-husband’s family, someone was always drinking as there were several active alcoholics, but their stashes of booze were not generally shared. Sometimes, someone brought a bottle to be shared, but not often. There was, however a little knot of people in the corner of the yard smoking weed, :D, who were usually a friendly bunch.
Dad’s side is religious and it was never a thing. Dad himself is an alcoholic so there was much leaving early and drinking on the way home (at least he let me drive ugh). Or bathroom drinking while his family visited.
Mom’s side was sloppy drunk for years and years (just beer, maybe the occasional liquor on holidays) until all the drunks died off. All of us cousins had/have alcoholic dads and don’t really drink at all. Alcohol is no longer a part of our family gatherings.
I totally have a chip on my shoulder about it too. I don’t drink and people wonder how I can manage to have a perfectly good time out with drunk people while I’m sober. I tell them I had 35 years of practice.
I’m Scottish. No really, I was born in Scotland.
Alcohol is a fucking food group in Scotland.
Everything from birthdays to sporting events to breathing relies on alcohol consumption. I wish I was kidding.
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Wine, invariably at my parents’ house. But we’ve taken to monitoring my mom’s intake as she’s 88 and losing her marbles. Gatherings without my parents beer is more commonly offered. None of my generation overdrinks. Although my mother and her sister were both quiet winos, they were very quiet about it and it didn’t affect my own drinking habits, which are not remarkable in any direction. I usually have a bottle of wine in the house but it takes me about a month to drink it.
Always, on both my Mom’s and Dad’s sides. It wouldn’t have been a family gathering without alcohol.
Extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins) - usually yes, but more when its the maternal side of the family than the paternal.
Immediate family - maybe, but probably not. Neither of my parents has ever been much for drinking and these days Dad is on medication that prohibits him from indulging. Mum will have a drink if it’s offered, but it normally won’t occur to her to bring alcohol. I don’t tend to drink on those occasions because most other people won’t be and I don’t really feel like I’m missing anything without it.
I come from a German-Catholic family. My grandmother had nine children.
Growing up I attended lots of family parties. And there was a lot of beer served at those parties.
All of my aunts and uncles are older now, obviously. But they still put on a good party. Not much has changed…
Beer, wine, liquor, almost always. My family are responsible drinkers and I have seen only one problem in 30 years. Cannabis has sometimes been clandestinely consumed on the premises and will probably be even more prevalent once it’s legal here in Maryland.
Usually there is. But it’s not essential. Some folks don’t drink at all, some folks have one. Some folks have more. Nobody gets stupid or wasted.