NotUrsula
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 19, 2002
As someone who is a little past bar-culture, agewise, I'm finding this topic fascinating. (The name throws me a bit, though; "/curious" seems an unusual term to use in this context. One article I read gave "sober sometimes" as an alternative term, and I think that one makes more sense.) https://www.npr.org/sections/health...the-booze-habit-even-briefly-has-its-benefits
I'm not really clear if this is about simply not drinking, or the economic perspective of "bars" that don't serve alcohol. It seems that the really new and different aspect is the business side.
DH & I largely gave up buying liquor in restaurants when we were first married; we did it solely as a money-saving strategy because we had a lot of student debt and were saving for a house. Decades later, it has become a habit, and we're so aghast at the price of alcohol served by the glass that we simply can't bring ourselves to indulge in it now, even though we can afford it. Also, 5 years ago I developed a health problem that makes me unable to metabolize alcohol, so I had to give it up entirely. DH still drinks on occasion, but not very often. I've never really had any issues with people wanting an explanation of why I don't drink; I socialize with a lot of live-and-let-live kinds of people, I guess.
Maybe I know an unusual number of frugal people, but most everyone I know gave up the bar scene more over what it cost (primarily in babysitting) than in wanting to avoid social pressure to drink. (Avoidance of secondhand smoke was a big motivator, too.) Do you think that "sober bars" are a niche that can work? As a frugal non-drinker, I do find myself avoiding going to workplace happy hours, etc., because of cost; even non-alcoholic drinks are exhorbitantl in bars, and I have a feeling that won't change.
I'm not really clear if this is about simply not drinking, or the economic perspective of "bars" that don't serve alcohol. It seems that the really new and different aspect is the business side.
DH & I largely gave up buying liquor in restaurants when we were first married; we did it solely as a money-saving strategy because we had a lot of student debt and were saving for a house. Decades later, it has become a habit, and we're so aghast at the price of alcohol served by the glass that we simply can't bring ourselves to indulge in it now, even though we can afford it. Also, 5 years ago I developed a health problem that makes me unable to metabolize alcohol, so I had to give it up entirely. DH still drinks on occasion, but not very often. I've never really had any issues with people wanting an explanation of why I don't drink; I socialize with a lot of live-and-let-live kinds of people, I guess.
Maybe I know an unusual number of frugal people, but most everyone I know gave up the bar scene more over what it cost (primarily in babysitting) than in wanting to avoid social pressure to drink. (Avoidance of secondhand smoke was a big motivator, too.) Do you think that "sober bars" are a niche that can work? As a frugal non-drinker, I do find myself avoiding going to workplace happy hours, etc., because of cost; even non-alcoholic drinks are exhorbitantl in bars, and I have a feeling that won't change.