Sometimes, at work, we end up talking extensively on a single topic. It’s not deliberate; someone starts off with a story or observation or dilemma and it somehow works its way into a discussion. Today, oddly enough, the topic was alcohol.
None of us are drinkers. Of the 5 of us their today, one doesn’t drink at all, 2 of us drink rarely, and the other 2 slightly more than rarely. One woman mentioned that she really liked it that she worked with people who don’t drink regularly. It does seem that drinks at the bar after work is a common way for people to bond, but really, it’s not the only way.
We moved on to the cost of drinking at a bar. It is amazing how much people will spend at a bar, on a regular basis. Especially people who are older and have families. Drinking at the bar when you are young and don’t have kids is one thing, but when I see people with young kids still at home hiring a sitter so they can go out and get blitzed it surprises me. When they do so on a regular basis, well, it’s a free country. But I’ll judge you.
It so happens that my ex-husband was a great one for wanting to go to bars, especially if they had live music. He claimed it was about the music, and maybe it was, but it was also about the alcohol, and he had some nasty hangovers to prove it. It bothered him that I did not go to the bars with him. But, I didn’t (and still don’t) care to get drunk, and don’t handle alcohol well anyway– More than one or two and I tend to throw up, get a headache, and need to go to bed. Sounds fun, right? So he said I could go and not drink, which is true. But I didn’t particularly care for how he behaved when he was drunk, and I find cigarette smoke intolerable. Plus the idea of being the designated driver didn’t appeal to me. Plus our kids were still little, and I figured the neighbor’s daughter who sat for us didn’t need to see The Drunk Guy coming home. So I stayed home and off he went.
No question, this wasn’t a good thing for our marriage. But my joining in at the bar wouldn’t have been good for me, or for our kids and I doubt it would have helped the marriage!
So I’m not much of a drinker, and I’ve found there are a goodly number of like-minded people, which is a blessing.
