3 ms·

As a Brit of similar age, who went to uni I can totally relate to everything and it was a very enjoyable read and a trip down memory lane. It is very interesti

As a Brit of similar age, who went to uni I can totally relate to everything and it was a very enjoyable read and a trip down memory lane. It is very interesting to see how the drinking culture has been shaped and how that we are sheep by partaking. Well in a way we are sheep and wolves. Because there is something in drinking culture in the UK that is about 'egging on' other people to drink more, so if someone who is known to drink decides to take it easy (like just drink a bit slowly) then they are often cajoled into drinking more. In addition there is the social pressure of buying rounds, so the next drink is always coming and many pints of beer all on the table at once. And you have to buy your round or you are a cheapskate - even if you didn't drink as much on the other rounds! Then in the workplace there is the bonding and social cohesion you miss out on if you abstain at work lunchtimes or functions. Drinking increases your chance of greasing the wheels of promotion and advancement. I've worked places where people would get drunk at lunchtime. And not always on a Friday! I'm glad it is at the peak and now declining. Probably a good thing. Living in Australia now. Drinking culture is definitely less but it is certainly there. I think the fitness and coffee culture trumps it.

bshimmin 11y ago
I too enjoyed this piece and could relate to, well, all of it apart from the hair straighteners. I spent a year on an exchange programme at a university in Italy, and found that 1) the Brits were by far the worst drinkers (followed by the Americans), and 2) the Italians had absolutely no concept of buying a round of drinks (I think they do have the phrase "bere in giro" but I'm not sure now if this was just a literal translation of the English without any genuine cultural meaning) - and the difference this makes is striking. While the author talks about Peak Booze being over, the drinking culture in London is still pretty appalling, and not just dominated by people in their thirties (who should, like me, be the Peak Booze generation described in the article). I do see an improvement in younger people (late teens, early twenties), I think, who seem to have much less interest in smoking and to drink a bit more in moderation than we did - but I'm not confident that those same people in five years in London won't be out drinking to excess three or four nights a week too.
tajen 11y ago
A London company wants to buy my business, but I've refused. It's not even about money, because everything is negotiable (including remote office from France), it's that at the bottom line I care for my health and abs. I want to get as far away as possible from their drinking habits, they look old at young age, and they'd enroll me into drinking.
- samtp 11y ago
  Unless the company looking to buy you are professional drunks and/or alcohol salesmen, that's an absurd way of thinking.

bshimmin 11y ago

I too enjoyed this piece and could relate to, well, all of it apart from the hair straighteners. I spent a year on an exchange programme at a university in Italy, and found that 1) the Brits were by far the worst drinkers (followed by the Americans), and 2) the Italians had absolutely no concept of buying a round of drinks (I think they do have the phrase "bere in giro" but I'm not sure now if this was just a literal translation of the English without any genuine cultural meaning) - and the difference this makes is striking. While the author talks about Peak Booze being over, the drinking culture in London is still pretty appalling, and not just dominated by people in their thirties (who should, like me, be the Peak Booze generation described in the article). I do see an improvement in younger people (late teens, early twenties), I think, who seem to have much less interest in smoking and to drink a bit more in moderation than we did - but I'm not confident that those same people in five years in London won't be out drinking to excess three or four nights a week too.

tajen 11y ago

A London company wants to buy my business, but I've refused. It's not even about money, because everything is negotiable (including remote office from France), it's that at the bottom line I care for my health and abs. I want to get as far away as possible from their drinking habits, they look old at young age, and they'd enroll me into drinking.

samtp 11y ago
Unless the company looking to buy you are professional drunks and/or alcohol salesmen, that's an absurd way of thinking.