I never understood the op’s version of partying. Go into a loud bar to talk to people? If there is a band then the focus should be on the music and even with that there should be significant breaks to allow conversation. If no band then the jukebox should be at a volume that doesn’t require vocal competition. And while I understand the learning curve for new drinkers I don’t get the long term heavy drinker.
My stars ‘n’ garters! I thought I was jollicking with Alice from The Honeymooners; but she turned out to be Nora from The Thin Man.
Well, floss my teeth and call me smiley. I’m outta my league. And outta here.
A great resource for understanding the fear of partying can be found at Modern Drunkard Magazine.
It’s my go to knowledge base for all things alcohol.
I have partied quite a bit in my time. Drinking actually is the only thing that makes it tolerable for me. You would have to pay me a LOT of money to even consider going out sober with a group of people that are bar hopping. As your drunkeness increases so does your tolerance for what most would consider annoying or overly…well just overly. Part of the fun for me is actually letting go, I even sometimes have to purposely tell myself to not worry about it and just see what happens. This has landed me in a variety of embarrassing, disgusting, awkward, and even painful situations. Though I got to say the places that the OP are talking about I may have a problem with also. I can deal with the loud music, you eventually get kinda used to it so that you automatically lean in before talking with an understanding that you may have to repeat what you said but this time less intelligible but with more spazmastic arm gestures. Dancing though? Fine for others not for me.
I typed up something along the lines of how much fun the stories of what you, him, her, that weird girl, the REALLY drunk guy at the bar, etc., did. These stories can and will last a lifetime if not more but that is another topic.
I think I’m going to try partying, one of these days. After all, I learned to drink and even *like *coffee in the last six months, too. Okay, just one coffee at work, I stil don’t drink coffee at home. Baby steps.
Many people around me complain they drink too much. While I am glad that is a problem I don’t have, I can’t chalk it up to principles or discipline. I just don’t like it. If I did, I might have a problem too. I even tried smoking when I was a teenager, because it looked elegant. I tried a whole pack over a couple days, but no, I just didn’t like it. Sigh…apart from the religious thing and the underwear, I’d make a great Mormon. 
I did like the couple times, seven years ago, I took psychedelic drugs, though. When people ask me, I tell them it was rather like visiting a museum for a really interesting art installation.
Dude! You are like way out of control!
How do you stay out of jail with this life style of yours? You need to dial it back a notch or you are going down in flames or wind up dead in some Hollywood hotel bath tub.
Next thing you know he’ll be driving fast and eating cheese!
You are young and stupid then you are older and wiser… hopefully… but it doesn’t mean you have to be a bore.
I have no problem with inviting a handful of people over to my house and knocking a few back. It’s just the obnoxiously loud music, screaming drunk scene I hate.
Anyone who can say “Well, floss my teeth and call me smiley” is welcome at any of *my *rent-parties.
Not to be mean or anything, but it might be too late for you to really enjoy partying. I enjoyed a drunken night or two back in my mis-spent youth, but at 45, about the only interest I have in going to a nightclub would be to sit in a balcony seat and make fun of everyone like Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets.
Never been to New Orleans this time of year, have you? 
I never got into partying myself: just never saw the fun in it. My idea of a party is Mahjongg and snacks. 
Sure, but that is Nightclubs. Our Mardi Gras (and perhaps the New Orleans version too?) is for all ages.
You know, some nights I feel like doing exactly that. Some nights I feel like playing Scrabble. Both are fun, but when I’m in the mood for one, the other won’t do.
You can’t see what could EVER be fun about dancing on a crowded floor? I mean, I believe you, but I can’t see how it could possibly be explained in a way that would make sense to you. You feel it or you don’t.
Say what? I’ve been a longtime fan of MDM, a subscriber, a participant on their message board, and went to their convention in 2006. I first learned of it on the SDMB, actually. Great magazine and great staff writing that stuff, many of whom I’ve met. Make no mistake about those guys – they are dead ass serious about drinking to excess.
Oh God, no. Not cheese! Once you start with the cheese, you’re already lost.
So on Friday my friend and I went to a bar that recently opened up in our hood, which was packed, as is always the case when a new bar opens up. I had a great time and will definitely return, but I suppose I would have had just as great an experience if we were in the room by ourselves on Friday night, with no one else around but the waitress and a lonely chef, unseen, tucked away in the kitchen.
Saturday I went to a show with another friend. Three stories worth of people, loud music, overpriced booze. I loved it (not the ripoff booze; the show and the venue), but I suppose the show would have been better without all those cheering, enthusiastic people. I mean, all their clapping, shouting and dancing totally ruined the music!
This morning I had brunch with a large group of ladies, maybe 15 or so, at a restaurant with endless mimosas. I suppose this would have been just as fun had I sat in a corner by myself and drank water.
In all three cases, I would have preferred the latter option. It’s not that one’s inherently a better way to be, it’s just that people are different. And the Dope is full of introverts, so maybe you feel like you’re being singled out? I don’t think that was the intention of the OP.
As I’ve stated elsewhere, I love extroverts. In a way I envy them, for being so confident and outgoing. People talk all the time like being an introvert is a character flaw, but it’s something I’ve learned to value about myself. I used to make excuses for not going to big overcrowded and loud events. Now I just say, ‘‘That’s not my scene, but we should definitely get together and do something later.’’ I like my life much better now that I’m not doing a bunch of crap I hate just because I’m socially expected to like it.
Maybe you should post in the extrovert and introvert thread, MeanOldLady. Are there things about introverts that you just can’t get? Tell us how you really feel.
Bwuh? You’d rather sit in a corner by yourself drinking water, than to have mimosas with a hilarious group of friends? Does not compute! And look, I can get the appeal of a quiet restaurant, and sometimes I prefer it, so fair enough on Scenario 1, but you’d honestly rather go to a concert with almost no crowd than to one with an audience whose energy you can hear and feel? The crowd is part of the show! No crowd, no concert.
Ha! Perhaps I should, but I’d like to think that I do get introverts. Still, going to a show with nobody there? Yeah, that’s crazy talk. Btw, I believe I have introvertish tendencies, and regularly stay home because I am goddamn tired of people, but come on people. Empty concerts? Let’s be serious!
I like concerts. I guess I was thinking of something else when you said ‘‘show.’’
But generally I don’t like lots of people around at once. It’s overwhelming. I would have preferred the quiet restaurant to the packed one, and I would have preferred brunch with three ladies instead of fifteen. It’s not that I don’t love people, it’s just that I love them in small quantities. I like social interactions to be intimate and to feel like I’m really connecting with people I care about. With 15 people you can’t really do that. And with my personality, there’s no way I would get a word in edgewise.
Maybe, maybe not! I have a sister who sounds a lot like you and I know she doesn’t get me at all. But that’s cool 'cuz I can’t get her either. How the two of us were born and raised by the same parents, I have no idea.