3 ms·
> That said I don't think solitary drinking is necessarily as bad as the article makes it out to be all the time One of my great bugaboos is these cultural def
by ashtonkem 5y ago
> That said I don't think solitary drinking is necessarily as bad as the article makes it out to be all the time
One of my great bugaboos is these cultural definitions of alcoholism that are independent from the actual amount of alcohol consumed. You know “you’re only an alcoholic if you drink alone” or “you’re only an alcoholic if you pour your own drinks” (apparently this is a meme in Japan?). Every culture that consumes alcohol seems to have these, and they’re all laughably naive and easily gamed. Alcoholics can and do drink heavily together, and they can pour each other drinks if that’s what it takes to sidestep some silly taboo. The only definition of this that’s meaningful is how much alcohol you drink and how often, nothing else.
- TacticalCoder 5y ago> "you’re only an alcoholic if you pour your own drinks” (apparently this is a meme in Japan?) (source: I've got family in Japan). It's polite in Japan to serve others and then let someone serve you. Otherwise it's "tejaku" (pooring oneself's drink). In, say, France/Belgium it's different: the one who serves from the bottle serves everybody and ends up serving himself. Now, obviously, when you're drinking alone there's nobody to serve you...
- ashtonkem 5y agoJust to be extra precise; I’m not trying to imply that there’s anything wrong with customs around how a good friend or polite host serves other people. I’m just railing against the “you’re only an alcoholic if you <behavior unrelated to amount consumed>“ tropes. I’ve never been to Japan, but I’d heard that “you’re only an alcoholic if you pour your own drinks” is a trope there. The question mark in my original post was to underscore my uncertainty.