Table Drinkers

[Briar Lee]

Some people just don't understand the need for solitude. They have to be around others to fill their emptiness. Being alone and having occasional drink do not indicate that a person will become a drunk. At your age, you really shouldn't believe every country song you listen to.

Traditional country songs were sort of a manufactured product, 2:30 to never more than 3:00 minutes long, to be played by disc jockeys over radio stations.


Yes, they sold singles and LP records, and of course there was a juke box market. But the Grand Ole Opry sold lots of Martha White Self Rising Flour, to housewives.

As Harlan Howard, the most famous country songwriter of the golden era said, all country songs are just three chords, and the truth.

 

[ashdigger]

I get enough people during my week. The last thing I want is more people.

The truth is that people suck. People do unbelievable things to each other.

When I’m relaxing the absolute last thing that goes through my head is “you know what this peace and solitude needs, one more idiot doing idiotic things.”

One of my favorite lyrics is “Counting all the assholes in the room, well, I’m definitely not alone” ~ Still Counting ~ Volbeat

 

[Zero]

I get enough people during my week. The last thing I want is more people.

The truth is that people suck. People do unbelievable things to each other.

When I’m relaxing the absolute last thing that goes through my head is “you know what this peace and solitude needs, one more idiot doing idiotic things.”

One of my favorite lyrics is “Counting all the assholes in the room, well, I’m definitely not alone” ~ Still Counting ~ Volbeat

Totally feel the same way. I hate crowds, where there's a crowd stupidity can abound. Give me solitude and mother nature.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

A glass of wine after dinner with my wife and grown kids on the back deck, people coming and going all evening. I couldn’t stop people from just dropping by if i wanted to.

We have a cigar bar just two blocks down that I could walk to, and get a glass of whatever and a cigar or bring my pipe… But the place is just full of bullshitters. For me, it’s just more fun to have people come to me, rather than going into a dark hole with no control over the music or the people.

 

[LotusEater]

I live in suburban Kansas City. If I wanted to have a regular table somewhere it would have to be at an Applebys or some other franchised nightmare and I’d still have to drive to get there. If I lived “downtown” and could walk to a spot with good food, ambiance and interesting people to watch I could absolutely be a table drunk. But I’m not sure my wife would approve.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Why romanticize a table drunk? Why not be a hobo? Travel, drinks, and corncob pipes. That seems slightly more romantic.

 

[kcghost]

You seem to be a little careless with your health. Two drinks of sherry, a Bottle of Wine, and an after-dinner beverage would leave me comatose.

 

[shanez]

It seems like an expensive concept to me.

 

[madox07]

I haven't been to a bar in many years. However, I had a local haunt that was a quiet dive bar. Decent tunes played at a reasonable volume and sports highlights were on the TV. I could zone out and not think (or think a lot). People mostly would leave me alone or engage in short conversations. I paid cash as I drank so I could leave at any time and bartenders knew I tipped decently, so a freebie or a discounted double was commonplace.

Yes, like Lonesome George Thorogood, I drink alone. And when I drink alone, I prefer to be by myself. I enjoy the solitude and contemplation to clear the head or exercise the demons.

I can certainly feel that, the older I get the more I prefer to drink alone.

 

[telescopes]

I decided if I ever go back to drinking in a serious way I would like to become a table drunk and no longer a bar stooge but that requires serious money. I mean, under this scenario I would have a reserved table at some brasserie, trattoria, tavern or whatever; for the same three hours every night where I would have a light meal with something like a sherry or two, a bottle of wine, and an aperitif. Preferably the table would be a corner booth. Does anyone here pursue such a lifestyle?

I don't really enjoy drinking at night at a table by myself. I guess I could.

BUT... And this is a BIG HOWEVER: In Palm Springs we have a joint called Hair of the Dog. I do enjoy hitting up the place from time to time at 7 AM in the morning, getting a table, ordering a couple of Gin Martinis with Blue Cheese Olives and smoking a few bowls of my pipe.

Hair of the Dog

Bar in Palm Springs

hair-of-the-dog-pub.business.site

Honestly, it is something I really look forward to now that I am retired. I think of all those poor souls slaving away in the morning and I am thankful not to be one of them.

Now, this isn't a regular routine, but I try to do it when time permits.

And, fortunately for me, I do enjoy talking to people. Yes, @ashdigger is right, there are some disappointing souls out there and they can come across your table from time to time.

But there are some really great people out there as well.

 

[Chasing Embers]

Does anyone here pursue such a lifestyle?

Why on earth would I subject myself to being anywhere near others? I've got a well stocked liquor cabinet, a wide leather recliner, an 85 inch flat screen, and every local restaurant is supported by Uber Eats. My job doesn't even require me to be around people.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

Ha ha, why am I not shocked that this forum would be full of guys who don’t like people?

 

[Briar Lee]

Why romanticize a table drunk? Why not be a hobo? Travel, drinks, and corncob pipes. That seems slightly more romantic.

The descent to being a drunken hobo by the railroad tracks in Denver, with a hurting head and a half a pint of wine, starts innocently with social drinking.

After his wife finds him one too many times sitting on a barstool and leaves then the downward spiral begins to where he becomes a table drunk.

Finally, near the end, after all his money and fair weather friends have fled, he must hop a freight train to become a hobo.

At which point the drunk must hand roll cigarettes, until he takes his last ride home.

All this is preventable.

As my Mama said, alcoholism is the only known disease transmitted by walking into a liquor store and buying a bottle and pulling the cork and drinking it.

Hard to argue with such logic, at least to her face.

But drunkenness does make for good country songs, it surely does.

If if wasn’t for drunks, there’d be no good country music.

Daddy and the Wine

Provided to YouTube by RCA Victor/LegacyDaddy and the Wine · Porter WagonerThe Bottom of the Bottle℗ Originally released 1968. All rights reserved by Sony Mu...

youtu.be

 

[telescopes]

Ha ha, why am I not shocked that this forum would be full of guys who don’t like people?

So much for the friendly affable pipe smoker.

What we have here is the hate filled scarred sneer of tight fisted ....

Or, as the song says in the Wizard of Oz, "Somewhere, over the spectrum..."

LOL.

Humor...

Apparently its not found at THIS table...

 

[Briar Tuck]

I do about 75% of my drinking at home, but living in a small town there is a pretty strong appeal to going out to the local pub. I have two local pubs that I frequent.

The first is the old local watering hole that has been around for almost a century and has evolved from logger/fisherman tavern, to biker bar, to the more contemporary, gentle pub that it is now. Lots of tourists there during tourist season, and mostly locals the rest of the year. Still some loggers, fishermen, and bikers too. They have the best beer selection on tap in town and I'm really good friends with the owners, who are also my neighbors. My wife and I try to pop in at least once a week for a few beers and dinner and to say hello to our friends and support the business.

The second place is the Elks Lodge, where I am a member and have been an officer over the years. Currently I'm an employee there too, responsible for cleaning the beer lines. I'm often at the Lodge anyway for one reason or another, so I'm at the bar there as well. The drinks are cheap, the pours are generous, and I know pretty much everyone I'm likely to see there.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I do about 75% of my drinking at home, but living in a small town there is a pretty strong appeal to going out to the local pub. I have two local pubs that I frequent.

The first is the old local watering hole that has been around for almost a century and has evolved from logger/fisherman tavern, to biker bar, to the more contemporary, gentle pub that it is now. Lots of tourists there during tourist season, and mostly locals the rest of the year. Still some loggers, fishermen, and bikers too. They have the best beer selection on tap in town and I'm really good friends with the owners, who are also my neighbors. My wife and I try to pop in at least once a week for a few beers and dinner and to say hello to our friends and support the business.

The second place is the Elks Lodge, where I am a member and have been an officer over the years. Currently I'm an employee there too, responsible for cleaning the beer lines. I'm often at the Lodge anyway for one reason or another, so I'm at the bar there as well. The drinks are cheap, the pours are generous, and I know pretty much everyone I'm likely to see there.

I hope are not offended but I am genuinely concerned after reading your post. Do you think you might have a problem with alcohol?

 

[Briar Tuck]

I'm somewhat perplexed and amused by how anything I wrote would bring about such concern, but no, I'm not offended, and no, I don't think I have a problem with alcohol. I do have friends with problems with alcohol so I'm pretty familiar with what that entails.

 

[mso489]

A lager or a pleasant wine with a meal is good. A bourbon for a special occasion, the Kentucky Derby or Veteran's Day. Bars are kind of depressing. I like the sociability of table drinking, but it wakes me up in bed at 3 a.m. and makes the next day go in slow motion, so no.

Alcohol beyond a glass or two is a sedative. I don't go through the jolly sociability phase. I don't feel better looking than usual or more clever. It's so individual. One man's fiesta is another's emotional slump. My best buzz is outdoors or on the water with my wife.

 

[shanez]

I use to be people person but people ruined that for me.

 

[puff_not_snuff]

I'm somewhat perplexed and amused by how anything I wrote would bring about such concern, but no, I'm not offended, and no, I don't think I have a problem with alcohol. I do have friends with problems with alcohol so I'm pretty familiar with what that entails.

Ok, I believe you. Sorry for the trouble.