Before the pandemic, I was watching Drag Race at the gay bar, so yes.
Did it really used to be common for guys to go to a bar every night like in Cheers or The Simpsons?
Submitted 6 months ago by pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
Comments
Lemminary@lemmy.world 6 months ago
python@lemmy.world 6 months ago
At the same time?!? Were the bars across the street from each other and you had two different friend groups in both, so you had to make up excuses, change your outfit, and run over to the other bar all night?! That sounds like an exciting time!
Lemminary@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Oh, these were separate events. One full season of All Stars was hosted at a regular bar by professional organizers from the community (downtime between Prides, amirite) and there were special events at the gay bar for the season finale and our local version, La Más Draga.
melsaskca@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
It used to be a place for the working stiffs to gather and was priced accordingly. Nowadays capitalization has been overused to the point where a lot of businesses are pricing themselves out of customers.
Aneb@lemmy.world 6 months ago
An average draft goes for $7-11 dollars in my city. And the $11 drafts are served in a smaller chalice than the cheaper stuff. I usually buy a 12 pack of beer for $24 from the store and get drunk at home when I can afford it.
Crashumbc@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Holy fuck! Even today you can get a 30 pack of average beer like bud Budweiser for 25 ish.
Back in the day I paid 3 a point for some cheap ass.
slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 6 months ago
I watched a documentary about “bar culture” in the 60es and 70es where i live. Shit was pretty wild. Dudes talked about going to the bar like people talk about video games these days. “Oh yeah, on a good week i’m here 40 to 48 hours” what doesn your wife think about it? “She’s not excited, but you know…”
But_my_mom_says_im_cool@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I saw an old video about when they made it illegal to drink and drive and dudes are like “they’re taking away my freedom! It’s my business if I wanna go to the bar and grab a couple beers after work before heading home! Im not hurting anyone!” It’s crazy how casual getting nightly drunk and driving home was in those days
slaneesh_is_right@lemmy.org 6 months ago
My dad’s friends often claim that’s what destroys restaurants. You can’t even go and get hammered and drive home.
Yeah, not drinking would be pure insanity, i could never. Imagine spending time with friends sober.
It is kinda crazy how different the times were. In the same documentary, they also touched on immigrants and how they also like to hang out in bars. One guy casually said something like: well i some people don’t hate these Spaniards, and some people just want them dead.
timbuck2themoon@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
I don’t think it’s crazy at all. The US in particular still has basically no real mass transit and bars everywhere. Everyone knows there is still drinking and driving going on. Certainly not all those people are calling ubers.
blimthepixie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
Five and drive, baby
Grass@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Some of the older old dudes I’ve worked with used to. I actually convinced one of the avocado toast whiners he was wrong based on bar cost now and back in his day
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Yes, and it’s still pretty common.
AlecSadler@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Umm, I’m in my 40s and I do… 😬
Granted it isn’t like Cheers, I just need the change of scenery since I work from home 10-20 hours a day.
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
20 hours a day? Bro…
AlecSadler@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Trying to get a company off the ground so it’s all hours all the time right now, fortunately/unfortunately.
Whats_your_reasoning@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I work from home 10-20 hours a day.
That’s fair. Drinking at one’s workplace is usually frowned upon anyway.
ohshit604@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
usually, upper management go for their hour and a half long launches and come back blitzed.
Flames5123@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
I’m an outlier because I live in a walkable neighborhood in a city. But I have 10 breweries within walking distance around my house. I know the owners by name for 2 of these breweries and the bartenders know me for 4 of them. I think they all know my dog.
I usually go with my wife and/or girlfriend about 2-4 days a week, but it’s still very much a hang out.
We’re also Friday regulars to a semi-close bar every Friday because I won a free beer/week for a year in a $25 raffle!
thatradomguy@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I usually go with my wife and/or girlfriend
image of hold up meme person with both hands in front of torso
Ok, sorry. I just wanted to post that finally. Also, I was remembering that one clip that always gets put in compilations about that guy and his wife and her bf. Anyway, carry on.
Flames5123@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Being polyam in Seattle is great. All of my coworkers know I’m poly and just accept it. All the bartenders know too. Makes it easy for them to start the tab.
axexrx@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I used to, up until the last couple years, when I stopped bartending. I still get most of my drinks for free though! And i still have a couple different groups of friends im all but gauranteed to find one of to hand out with.
PillowTalk420@lemmy.world 6 months ago
It’s fairly common right now, too.
Psythik@lemmy.world 6 months ago
How can anyone afford to go to bars anymore? Drinking at home is much cheaper.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 6 months ago
Man, I have no fucking idea. I can’t afford to rent my own apartment, and I have worked with dudes that made $3/hour less than me who owned sizeable middle-class houses somehow. 😬
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Gotta find the dive bars with the specials on shitty liquor and beer
dil@lemmy.zip 6 months ago
any area with bars has a cheaper bar usually, my main college bar was hella cheap, always had a deal everyday, most nearby bars had deals once a week or specials for locally brewed stuff that was a lot cheaper than buying it elsewhere. I could black out easily off 50$ vs sf which is like 2 one shot drinks maybe for that amount
474D@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Get buzzed first then go out and coast with a few drinks
LemmyKnowsBest@lemmy.world 6 months ago
It’s technically considered depression & alcoholism to drink alone in one’s house.
Most people use alcohol to unwind & socialize so they do it in social environments.
Pencilnoob@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I live in a tiny NE college town where that happens but for breakfast at a dive coffeeshop. It’s loud, packed, the food and coffee are meh, but every single day I can walk in there and see 5-10 locals eating breakfast and shooting the breeze. There’s cliques who always sit together, and social butterflies who pick a different group every morning. A bottomless mug of coffee is $3, so folks will just come and hang out from like 8-11am. It’s great fun.
There’s a brewery next door that’s often busy at night but generally it’s a quiet town so folks are home chilling after dinner.
merc@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
I like that in the US, New England (NE) is in the North East (NE).
pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de 6 months ago
That sounds awesome.
Pencilnoob@lemmy.world 6 months ago
It really is the dream
MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I currently have 2 great microbreweries near my work. So, I alternate nights, but, very much a regular at both.
FistingEnthusiast@lemmynsfw.com 6 months ago
One of the only things I miss from somewhere I used to live was my local bar
It was a minute walk from my front door
It was a little hub for the community. My dogs loved it and it was a fantastic place to socialise
I wasn’t there every day, but a couple of times a week wasn’t unusual
pdqcp@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 months ago
Yup, it used to be a lot more common, Not Just Bikes has a great video on this subject too and how our car dependency made most of them disappear:
The Great Places Erased by Suburbia (the Third Place)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvdQ381K5xg
non YT yewtu.be/watch?v=VvdQ381K5xgfriend_of_satan@lemmy.world 6 months ago
For folks who like this theme, there is lemmy.world/c/fuckcars
notsosure@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
I never did and none of the other men and women in my family neither.
the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I worked in a bar for a few years and I saw the same people everyday. They would even come in on holidays if the bar was open. Some of them would blow their whole paycheck, I always thought it was kinda sad.
merc@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
In the show Clarkson’s Farm, Jeremy Clarkson is looking around, trying to buy a pub. At one point they talk about wanting to have a pub with a little grocery store attached. Clarkson’s girlfriend explained why that was common at one point in Ireland. It was because in the past men would get paid, go immediately to the pub, and drink until their paycheck was gone. If there was a shop attached to the pub, they could hand in an order at the shop before they started drinking. And then, even if they drank away the rest of their paycheck, they’d still be handed a bag of groceries before they were kicked out and had to stumble home.
trashcroissant@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
I had the same experience and did feel badly for them as well. For a lot of them (especially middle aged men in my experience), they just seemed very lonely. I miss a lot of those regulars, they were generally good people.
YurkshireLad@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
I worked in a couple of pubs in england back in the 90s and there were definitely regulars that would come in every weekend night and quite often, some week nights.
TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 6 months ago
beer used to be cheaper
adespoton@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
And bars/pubs used to be fine with the regulars hanging out in the corner, only buying a pitcher of beer each per night.
Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Europeans are pretty active on this mater. I’m always amaze by how much people go to bistro bin France and Belgium. I think this applies to pub in England too. In Quebec, I think it was morr common in the 60, 70 and earlier and fade away with the importance TV and later the Internet took in people’s home. Now when I go back to some small cities that use to have pretty active downtowns in the late 90s and 200Os, it’s absolutely dead. The only bars that survive have a crowd of people in their 40s and more. It use be full of young people, but now I guess they just "flix and chill’…
Fondots@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Around 10-15 years ago I worked in a pizzeria with a little sports bar. We had more than a couple people who were there almost every day.
I still stop by there once in a while, and without fail I run into at least one of those old regulars every time.
troed@fedia.io 6 months ago
Did this (Mon-Sat) together with a few friends and colleagues in my late 20s. We were regulars to the point of the cook always making something off menu more fitting for regular dinner, as well as no need to settle the bill every night. Once a month everything was tallied up.
Good times. Had to stop though since I found myself going through the fridge on a Sunday once looking for some alcohol.
gdog05@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Had to stop though since I found myself going through the fridge on a Sunday once looking for some alcohol.
I had a similar experience except I’d open the fridge before work and instinctively grab a beer or start to grab one before I realized I was just there for creamer.
YtA4QCam2A9j7EfTgHrH@infosec.pub 6 months ago
When I was younger I did this and it was the best part of my life. Having a place to go where everyone was welcome was very nice
Drusas@fedia.io 6 months ago
Did everybody know your name?
Damage@slrpnk.net 6 months ago
and they were always glad you came
foodandart@lemmy.zip 6 months ago
Yeah. My husband went out to the pub 6 nights a week. He’s no longer drinking - quit last year - finally! (I quit in 2009)
Seriously, alcohol is overrated.
Rentlar@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Yes, and in some places especially small towns, it is for some people, since it’s the main hangout spot (3rd place) in town.
Though I don’t think young people do that as much, “regulars” tend to mean 1-3 times a week. My university had a bar that had a “ritual” where Friday afternoons it would be a completely full house.
SomeAmateur@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Idk how common it was but it’s a good example of a “third place”. A spot that isn’t work or home where you can meet and socialize
danc4498@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I’ve never heard of a concept of a third place. Seems like everybody should have one.
Chronographs@lemmy.zip 6 months ago
I wish we could have third places that don’t involve fucking up your body.
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 6 months ago
It used to be the Mall. It was always a place to hang out, meet friends, window shop, eat, see a movie, etc.
When I was a kid, the local mall even included the local library. I thought that was a great idea, but I never saw another mall with a library.
Cevilia@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Public libraries are great third places. Larger ones often have classes, groups, and social clubs. And you’ll meet like-minded people just by becoming a regular.
usrtrv@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Hacker/makerspace
Nastybutler@lemmy.world 6 months ago
For the non religious, that’s where clubs like the Shriners, or Lions come in. Social clubs that don’t revolve entirely around alcohol
danc4498@lemmy.world 6 months ago
May I introduce you to your lord and savior Jesus Christ? He’s got a third place for you.
Okokimup@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Check your library. They do all kinds of activities.
Usernamealreadyinuse@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Your local gym? CrossFit box? Football/soccer club? Community centre? Library? Outdoor? Scouts?
skulblaka@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Honestly I’m cool with fucking up my body to have a good time, I just wish it didn’t cost me $200 for the privelege.
litchralee@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Even with NA (low/non-alcoholic) beverages, it’d be nice to have third places that don’t come with an obligation to spend money.
To be clear, I’m not asking for places that ban spending money, but there are third places like parks (eg NYC Central Park) that are destinations in their own right, but one can also spend money there, such as buying stuff and having a picnic on the grass, or bringing board games and meeting up with friends. Or strolling the grounds astride rental e-bikes. Or free yoga.
Where there’s an open space, people make use of it. But we don’t really have much of that in the USA, that isn’t tied up as a parking lot, an open-space preserve (where people shouldn’t tred upon to protect wildlife), or are beyond reasonable distances (eg BLM land in the middle of Nevada).
Pumafred9@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Yes, and it still is to certain folk.
I think with sugar and alcohol taxes, a lot of establishments had to change to survive.
OhmsLawn@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Still do?
I don’t drink anymore, but yeah. Those people you see in dive bars are often daily customers.
TachyonTele@piefed.social 6 months ago
It still is. There’s bars like that in every town.
Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Still is common, most bars have their regulars
return2ozma@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I live a block away from my local bar. Go multiple times a week to play pool. There’s a lot of regulars so it’s like hanging out with friends/neighbors.
Kelsenellenelvial@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Yep, been a while since worked at a place like that, but there was definitely a crowed that would be there most days. This was mid 2000’s. Partly dried up when smoking indoors was banned, I think that was the last straw for a big part of the culture that was already drying up.
saltesc@lemmy.world 6 months ago
Yeah. Few times a week I go to mine to chat with all the locals over two or three beers then head home. It’s a nice way to wind down, be out, and socialise at a really low intensity. No organising is needed, just arrive and there’ll be someone there you know.
That was kind of the point of pubs (public house). A place for the community to meet up in any weather and have a good time together whether games, sharing stories, or having a meal. The smaller the town, the friendlier and more tight the patrons are too. Also great places to frequent when travelling, meeting new locals, getting great travel advice, making friends for the few days you’re there.
Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Yes, my dad was one of them. I haven’t gone to a bar for years but it used to be most smaller bars had at least a few regulars that basically lived there. I remember one old vet that used to show up every day as soon as the bar would open for his daily fix… It got to the point the bar refused to serve him, so he would try and get unsuspecting customers to buy them for him. (This was in the 70’s and 80’s, there were (or at least seemed to be) a lot more alcoholics back then.
scarabic@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I remember one old vet that used to show up every day as soon as the bar would open for his daily fix… It got to the point the bar refused to serve him
So he’d go to this bar during business hours to drink. And this went on to the point where they stopped serving him? Something is missing from the middle of this story…
Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 6 months ago
Sorry If I didn’t explain that right… the guy was drinking non-stop every single day, to the point you could physically see his liver was shutting down because of his yellowish color. So the bar didn’t have much choice and had to cut him off. He was an awesome old guy so no-one wanted to boot him, but if he drinks himself to death the bar would be potentially liable for still serving him.
Firoaren@sh.itjust.works 6 months ago
Dude managed to get a parenthetical inside a parenthetical, respect
HuskerNation@lemmynsfw.com 6 months ago
I’ve never been a big drinker but I have a few places around me where beer is $3. And the actual place my wife and I go if we do feel like drinking is our local VFW. I can get a 24 oz frosty on tap for like 2.50. and a jack and coke for 3. Last time we went out drinking spent like $30 total and we were both drunk
pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de 6 months ago
Damn - I’m in Seattle and it’s rare to find $6 drafts anymore.
pruwybn@discuss.tchncs.de 6 months ago
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to spend that much everyday, I’ll just have some beers at home for 1/5th the price
snooggums@piefed.world 6 months ago
The extra price was so they weren't drinking alone, or to avoid going home.
OrteilGenou@lemmy.world 6 months ago
I remember stories from my dad about a guy he knew where the bar maid would have to help him with the first drink in the morning because his hands would shake so much.
The romantic history of the happy drunk is almost entirely fictional. I say almost because I know a few people who are able to take it or leave it, but for the most part the people I know/knew who were drinking either in bunches or daily end up complete and unabridged alcoholics, whether they are active and in serious trouble or have sought help and straightened up, but cannot touch it.
HuskerNation@lemmynsfw.com 6 months ago
I’m one of the rare happy drunks. Don’t drink often, I’m an extremely quiet person usually. But get a few beers in me and my wife says I won’t shut up but she also says it’s the only time she gets to talk to me. I don’t know why, I can’t hold a conversation when I’m sober. Never know what to talk about, my work life is boring so nothing interesting ever happens.
When I have a few, it’s likeeverything just starts coming out.
TheLazyNerd@europe.pub 6 months ago
It depends on (sub)culture, but mainly yes.
Bars were often cheap too, so going to the bar multiple times per week was not expensive. The reason these bars were cheap:
Also,
possumparty@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 months ago
Found the non-American