<p>As a non-wine aficionado, I could still show up, try some things, and laugh in a self-deprecating fashion at the fact that these distinctions are wasted on me. If other people think that I should find drinking so important that I should bother to learn differences, that says more about them than about me. </p>
<p>If there were a similar fun coffee tasting event, no one would think twice about someone saying - I don’t know the diff between a cappuccino and a latte, or I’ve never been to Starbucks, or all these coffees taste the same to me. </p>
<p>I think Bay is over explaining themselves. Let’s not beat this to a pulp…</p>
<p>One thing I find funny is that certain alcohols have their varying stigmas. Find out some is a wine drinker. Oh, they’re classy and no how to unwind. Find out some is a craft drinker. Oh, they know where to find the great stuff. Find out some is a whiskey drinker…things suddenly get different. This us what I’ve observed at the least. Anyone enjoy their hard liquor? Ahh, no hands…;)</p>
<p>I think you are right about the stigmas. I do perceive hard liquor drinkers as more of the “heavy hitters.” i just can’t really metabolize hard liquor very well and I seem to feel it right away unlike a glass of wine. I also do not like the way hard liquor makes me feel the next day - headachy and foggy. Although I once in a while do like a vodka and grapefruit juice - just one though.</p>
<p>I don’t drink hard liquor, except on very, very rare occasions. But I have a number of close friends who have gotten into the artisan-cocktail craze, using all sorts of exotic liquors and infused syrups, etc. I prefer a glass of wine, but I don’t begrudge them their fancy cocktails or think it is a sign of alcohol problems.</p>
<p>The art of the martini is big too these days.</p>
<p>I don’t think of anyone as a heavy drinker if they are not drinking heavily. Someone who has a scotch and water before dinner then switches to water is something I see frequently when having dinner out with friends.</p>
<p>Its good to see people drinking more water.
Apparently they are doing so to an extent that the soda pop companies are frantic. Or at least their investors are.</p>
<p>I think it’s interesting that it took about nine pages before anybody mentioned a reason that many people don’t drink alcohol: they believe it’s a sin. And it’s not just LDS or Muslims, either–many fundamentalist/evangelical Christians also believe this, and drinking is at least discouraged by some mainline Protestant denominations. As Marsian noted, this is common in the south, and probably elsewhere as well.</p>
<p>If you want to get my mother to invest in your business, it would be much better for you if she doesn’t see you drinking alcohol. There may be more people like that in the business world than you might think. Personally, I have seen plenty of negative business consequences for people who drank too much in business settings, and none at all for people who don’t drink at all. Plus, if you have a glass with Coke or water in it, nobody ever asks you what you’re drinking. I have been to hundreds of business events with drinking over the years, and I would guess that few, if any, of the people there were aware that I wasn’t drinking alcohol. But they sure were aware of the other guy who always got sloshed.</p>
<p>If I were invited to a wine tasting or a martini tasting or whatever I wouldn’t have a problem going if I liked the people. It might be fun to try something like that and I’m not morally opposed. But if I were out to be out (or entertaining), I just wouldn’t choose to have alcohol. Which is funny because I have a client who is a super-high-end European beverage distributor and gives me all sorts of bottles that make other people quite envious. </p>
<p>Oh but I’m a hypocrite. I do sometimes cook with wine, like certain beef dishes and a particular pasta sauce recipe. So there you go.</p>
<p>
My denomination doesn’t ban, but definitely doesn’t encourage. However, it can never, ever, ever be on church premises.</p>
<p>I can still remember the first time I heard a Methodist pastor refer to having a beer. Where I grew up, pastors just didn’t drink, and a lot of church members didn’t either–although it wasn’t strictly prohibited.</p>
<p>My family very rarely drank alcohol, that I remember, only once at a holiday dinner do i remember seeing wine.</p>
<p>I do think it can be a " class" thing. More affluent families seem to know more about wines and expect to have alcohol at social occasions.
At my daughters prep school, parent teacher potlucks were a huge deal at the beginning of the year.
I was intrigued to see a table full of serve yourself wine, and of course at auctions, every table came with complimentary champagne to get the bidding started.
I was also worried however, when I would see several parents get visibly tipsy at virtually every occasion to do so.
I thought of school events, more as I would a business event & nursed one glass of wine, throughout, as I didn’t want to be noticed as the one who drank too much.
When you are drinking, even just a couple drinks, it is easy to think that your behavior hasn’t changed, and indeed if every one else is drinking, they won’t notice. But try an experiment and not drink at all at the next event, it might change your mind about how unobtrusive you are.</p>
The chart suggests that at least 8% of people in every age group have never had a drink. That’s a lot of people–I suspect that’s a lot more people than recovering alcoholics. And I’ll bet that at least half, if not more, of those non-drinkers abstain for religious reasons. So that means, when you are drinking alcohol in a business setting, there’s a good chance that 4% of the people you are trying to influence think that your drinking is a sign of poor moral character. You can balance that against whatever percentage of people might think worse of you if you refrain from drinking alcohol. I suppose it depends on the setting, but perhaps overall it’s a wash.</p>
<p>Note: I don’t want to speak for the poster who said it, but in my experience, a person who asks why anybody “needs” to drink is usually coming from a background in which drinking alcohol is considered immoral.</p>
<p>Hunt- hate to tell you, but not many people in the south are opposed to drinking these days. Even most of the Baptists have come around! Southerners like their Jack! </p>
<p>My kids’ private schools always served alcohol at adult social functions, as does my church. </p>
<p>Both the guy who gets sloshed and the guy who won’t participate due to his rigid or righteous ways could be viewed less favorably than the one who knows his limits and appreciates a good vintage. You never know. Why not cover your bases when it is so easy, was the point I was making. </p>
<p>I guess it depends on the part of the south, and the church. There are still plenty of non-drinkers, although probably not as many as there used to be.</p>
<p>I’d like to drink (more often) but I get a headache even when I have 1 drink of any kind. Always regret it an hour afterwards and the next day as I still feel the after affects.</p>
<p>30 years ago, when I saw drinking at a business lunch I wouldn’t have even thought twice . Today, I rarely see it and I think if someone has a drink at lunch ( business setting) I’m inclined to think there’s a drinking “problem” if I don’t know them. I don’t see how you can perform a job affectively if you have a drink during the day. </p>
<p>Hunt, I come from a culture where people definitely drink. My paretns would drink a little during holidays/special occasions (not any more, but that’s a very recent change, after I was already an adult). So, I don’t come from a culture where alcohol is not used or considered a sin. It was my personal decision (non-religious or cultural) to not drink.</p>
<p>However, I do wonder why people choose to drink. I don’t ask people that, because that would be rude, but I am genuinely curious. For at least some people it seems to be just a social pressure thing (kind of what Bay keeps talking about), which I don’t find a good reason to do something (for any activity) - I know it’s not true for everyone.</p>
<p>Raises hand as someone brought up in a southern Baptist church which taught that drinking alcohol was a sin. I do remember asking a Sunday School teacher, “but didn’t Jesus turn water into wine at a wedding? Why would he do that if it’s a sin?” My teacher said “I refuse to believe that wine had alcohol in it!” </p>
<p>My parents, even though Baptist, did drink at home. Once our pastor called my Mom at dinner time. She was struggling with getting the Heinz onto my little brother’s fries. Mom mouthed at me “tell him to call me back later.” I said, “I’m sorry Pastor Dave, but my Mom’s busy right now. She’s hitting the bottle. Bye.”</p>
<p>I think a lot of people don’t consider the decision of whether to drink or not drink to be a big deal, any more than they would ponder whether to go to movies, or to eat meat. If they come from a background where these activities are normal, there is no big decision to be made. It’s a different story, of course, if you come from a family where these things aren’t normal–and even more so if they are forbidden.</p>
Southerners like their Jack! </p>