The Sober/Curious movement?

[Floridaman999]

I'm too busy training for runs to drink

I'm too busy drinking wine to train for runs.

 

[Kennywood]

It could be fluff stuff, like are the even numbered Star Trek movies really that much better than the odd numbered ones? (YES, they are, BTW. )

Galaxy Quest is the best Star Trek movie....lol

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

That's a diner. I think most people think of a coffee shop as sort of a non-chain locally owned Starbucks type place.

Diner, coffee, shop, and greasy spoon were pretty much interchangeable terms back in the day. The term coffee shop predates any of the coffee stores such as Starbucks by years upon years. It is very similar to a diner. Same food. Same cup o' joe. But usually bigger. Diner originally referred to a train car. And many of the earliest Diners were converted train cars. Hence the name. There were also prefab buildings that were used that could be delivered almost anywhere that were made to look like a train car. We didn't have any of them where I grew up because land was dirt cheap. Ours were always bigger.
Unfortunately, many a modern day diner isn't really the real thing. It's a faux diner serving way over priced food and drinks or just fast food hamburgers.

 

[Imzadi]

Seriously, if I'm going out to some place, it needs to either have really good food or drink or some other sort of entertainment. The places that seem to be doing well lately (again, regardless of alcohol), combine some other sort of activity - around here, there's been axe throwing, bocce courts and board games as things to draw people in. And yeah, they're fads, but hey, it's at least something new.

I read, actress, Susan Sarandon, created a ping-pong club that became really popular. It sounds like what you are talking about. You can see in the video on the website, that it starts off with pics of people playing. But as the video progresses, then they show the bar & the food and the areas to lounge & socialize. And many of the women aren't exactly dressed to play a serious game of ping pong.

https://wearespin.com/

 

[RedAngie]

Hmmmm, looks kind of awkward, like these people seem to be thinking, "that guy speaking is a total dweeb, lemme finish my drink and get outta this lame place."

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

I'm too busy training for runs to drink

I'm working out too. How bout I give you some pointers.

 

[Kitty 34]

This is ONE of the reasons that I stopped going out. I would go to Thursday Night Pint Night at a local pizza place and the night (2 beers & a pizza) would cost me nearly $40.

Next time just don't order the pizza....problem solved!



.....and you know I'm totally jk!

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

View attachment 416763


Hmmmm, looks kind of awkward, like these people seem to be thinking, "that guy speaking is a total dweeb, lemme finish my drink and get outta this lame place."

I know what the two women in the place are thinking. Wow. Back when we went to the alcohol bar these guys looked hot. I picked a heck of a time to quit drinking.

 

[disneychrista]

Just what I was thinking. Doesn't Starbucks already fulfill the purpose of serving overpriced non-alcoholic drinks?

Yes but without the social interaction that can happen at a bar. I've never had a random person ask me what I'm reading at Starbucks. Sitting at a bar drinking a beer, it happens nearly every time.

 

[disneychrista]

Next time just don't order the pizza....problem solved!



.....and you know I'm totally jk!

I do that on occasion but then it's only ONE beer and a nearly $10 tab. I mean seriously when did a pint of beer become $7 - $8?

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm not talking about the obnoxious drinkers. Those people are obnoxious even without drinking.

There is a group of us that attend various workshops or seminars together. Then we all go out to dinner or a tapas bar afterwards to chat. We often have great talks, witty, intellectual debates, (no degenerating into name calling or anything close to that,) sometimes about what the seminar was about, etc.

There was this one time, where the debate got really heated, and this one woman, who, by the way she dressed and held herself, was probably a really strong, intelligent supervisor, (but not at all arrogant,) at some corporation, was about to tell us her argument. We were all quietly waiting, on bated breath, as though she was about to tell us she had come up with the cure for AIDS. Just when it was about to come out of her mouth, her eyes went woozy and she put her hands up to her head as though she felt the room start spinning, and she said, "Damn. . . Sorry. I've had too much to drink. . . I just lost my thought. . . Nope. . . I can't get the thought back." And in an instant, <poof!> there went the cure for AIDS as she had tipped over into the sloshed zone. We all groaned.

I'm not flaming her. She had every right to relax and kick back a few - or several, after work.

Yet, as a non-alcohol person hanging out with social drinkers, this happens a lot. It's not always deep conversations about splitting the atom. It could be fluff stuff, like are the even numbered Star Trek movies really that much better than the odd numbered ones? (YES, they are, BTW. ) One moment we are having a lucid conversation, then comes a moment when we are not.

That still seems to be what I was talking about.

Your comment was "Basically, when one goes to a party with drinkers, there is a clock on them." I countered that what you're talking about is a certain type of drinker. I guess I was speaking towards the blanket statement.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I do that on occasion but then it's only ONE beer and a nearly $10 tab. I mean seriously when did a pint of beer become $7 - $8?

I find it depends on type of beer and place too.

My style (darker, porter and stouts) tends to cost more than my husband's type of beer (wheats, pilzners, bocks, etc). Also my husband is more inclined say on a company happy hour to get miller lite tall boys that are on special for $3 each meanwhile I just can't do that lol and I'll get 1 Guinness (which is the only dark beer this particular bar has) for $6.

 

[NotUrsula]

Joking about axes aside, BYOB venues that feature a game of some sort are a bit different, I think. The focus is on the game, and whether or not you drink, you're not going to go there if you don't want to play or at least watch. (Well, maybe if your SO drags you, I guess.) Curling clubs are a prime example of that sort of venue; yeah, some people are drinking while playing, but it's all about the game, so if you don't drink, people will just assume that you're a serious player who wants to stay sharp. Another example of this sort of thing is the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club in Florida. It nearly died a few decades ago, but now it has come back to life with a vengeance, because young people have discovered open-court Friday nights. They roll in with coolers full of "adult beverages" and play for free; it's now a trendy thing to do. (Yes, really. Shuffleboard. It's an interesting scene, because the old folks still go, too, and people also bring kids.)

Places that advertise themselves as "sober bars" are still going to focus on beverage sales as their profit source, and I suspect they are mostly going to have to go pretty far out there in terms of unusual concoctions to get people to keep coming back.

 

[Cannot_Wait_4Disney]

BYOB with games? We used to call that the Lions Club picnic.

 

[jhoannam]

I'm too busy drinking wine to train for runs.

The only reason I’m training for runs is because I have a Disney addiction and need more excuses to go to Disney.

 

[Floridaman999]

The only reason I’m training for runs is because I have a Disney addiction and need more excuses to go to Disney.

I understand completely.

 

[disneychrista]

I find it depends on type of beer and place too.

I tend to go to local breweries and places that serve mainly/exclusively local "craft" beers. They do tend to be a little more pricy. But it wasn't that long ago that $5 paid for the beer and the tip.

I think we've discussed this before but I would steal either your or your DH's beer. I'm a Dalmatian I like light and dark beers.

 

[Hikergirl]

@Floridaman999 you can do both!

 

[mousefan73]

Uh, I hate to point out the obvious, but you can do all those very same things at a bar that serves alcohol, too. Just don't drink. But then they wouldn't be able to feel sooper speshul by doing that.

Or maybe a starbucks?

 

[mousefan73]

View attachment 416763


Hmmmm, looks kind of awkward, like these people seem to be thinking, "that guy speaking is a total dweeb, lemme finish my drink and get outta this lame place."

My first thought was either theraphy circle let's introduce ourselves or church group. People at normal " bars" do not stand in a wide open circle with tons of bubble space. i I usually up to my friends face speaking so they can hear me.