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Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

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Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#41

Post by jvandyke »

Drinking serves two purposes for me. 1) It is a social lubricant and 2) it helps me unwind faster. However, both benefits come with costs and risks like sleep problems and being too verbose. I try to consider these things before drinking, but the more I drink at a time the less I care about said costs and risks. Same as everyone else.

I don't consider drinking a problem any more than I consider eating a problem. If I eat too much or eat poorly, I feel bad and gain weight which further complicates things. If I drink too much the same things happen, plus I sleep worse and can get in trouble if I say or do the wrong things. Is it food that's the problem or me? Is it drinking that's the problem or me?

I try to not be my own problem.

Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#42

Post by jeswin »

I am 34. I never had a serious "drinking problem", but reducing the amount I was drinking every week has been a very positive experience.

- I gave up drinking everything except wine (1 or 2 glasses) or an occasional beer.

- Drink very slowly. My girlfriend drinks about 2-3x faster than I do.

- Focus on the food, if you're dining out.

- Substitute some socializing sessions with late night sports or reading.

- Learnt to say "No, thanks".

I don't think I wanna completely stop; but I think I've found my optimum level of merry.

Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#43

Post by noahlt »

kstenerud wrote: post #10
noahlt wrote: post #8

At the time of writing this comment, there is just one comment on this thread complaining about the amount of alcohol in company outings. That comment has been downvoted and is now marked [dead]. The question isn't about each individual's drinking problem. The question is about tech culture's drinking problem. And there's the answer: denial.

If you're talking about jbob2000, it's not that he was downvoted; it's that he's been hellbanned for the past 2 months.

Ah, thanks for pointing out my error. My point still stands, though with a little less rhetorical flourish.

Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#44

Post by steven777400 »

lnanek2 wrote: post #39
noahlt wrote: post #8

At the time of writing this comment, there is just one comment on this thread complaining about the amount of alcohol in company outings. That comment has been downvoted and is now marked [dead]. The question isn't about each individual's drinking problem. The question is about tech culture's drinking problem. And there's the answer: denial.

And where exactly is the proof that there is some drinking problem in tech? Just people who refuse to drink anything at all and complaining when one a day is healthy? I think it's likely more of a religious problem, or anti-social problem, honestly. If you are too lazy to go drink one with your peers, then you will suffer less social success and poorer network, but I think you are being intentionally lazy, so you rea…

I have no issue with drinking, but the idea that I need to "go out" with my work peers is annoying. I already spend too much time at work for my liking. I don't want to add on top of it schmoozing time I'm not getting paid for. I recognize the reality of social promotion and I know I'm paying some networking fee for not attending such events, but I still don't want to go.

I resist the idea that not going is "lazy", however. "Lazy" is spending the work day reading Randall Munroe's "What if?" instead of working on the outstanding task list (I'll accept guilt on this one). Lazy should not be considered not attending extracurricular work activities.

Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#45

Post by SeoxyS »

51Cards wrote: post #17

Lifetime non-drinker here which I guess makes me even more aware of it at times. Many things are discussed "over drinks" and after a lifetime of ordering a "Diet Coke on the Rocks" I still get odd looks.

My new favorite is soda water with a splash of bitters. Gives you an effectively-nonalcoholic drink that's more interesting looking than pretty much anyone else's at the table.

It's also a great drink to have when you're out drinking, if you need to pace or hydrate yourself.

Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#47

Post by 1arity »

The problem with drinking is the guilt about drinking problems. People are more addicted to shaming themselves for enjoying something, than they are to the thing they wish they wouldn't enjoy.

I put all that down to a hangover ( ... ) from our Western culture's Christian legacy programming. In a climate of pervasive fabricated guilt, people will fabricate the greater guilt of the Other to make themselves feel that little bit better. Hence the obsession with amateurs diagnosing the drinking problems of their peers, to assuage their own unresolved guilt!

Let's drink to that!

Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#48

Post by murbard2 »

As a supertaster, I never liked the taste of alcohol, but I can tolerate it in heavily sweetened cocktails. I do drink under very rare circumstances, either when I'm looking for the intoxicating effect, or when the situation strongly call for some amount of conformism (being asked to share a drink with someone who lost a relative, to share a toast at a wedding, etc). I average about two or three drinks a year.

Overall, I have a strong disdain for drinking culture. There is some sort of pride associated with heavy drinking, especially among younger folks, even though there is nothing to be particularly proud of. I think most heavy social drinking is done by weak willed conformists who are looking to fit-in rather than cultivate their own individuality through self-actualization.

As far as the effects go, ethanol is a dumb drug. It can be useful in some circumstances against social anxiety - something I wish I had known earlier in my life - but the level of intoxication conducive to perfect social fluidity is a small peak that is hard to shoot for (no, not Balmer's peak).

Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#49

Post by emiranda »

I stopped drinking for about a month in order to diet. I was doing Paleo. I was doing it pretty hardcore, so I avoided drinking all together. I did feel better, but going out on the weekends was a bit of a bummer since everyone else was drinking. It's like the old saying goes: It's annoying being the only drunk person at a party or being the only sober person at a party.

I'm off the diet now, though I've been thinking of starting it up again next month, and recently started drinking a bit more on the weekend. It helps me unwind and have a good time time. My girlfriend and I usually bring a flask of rum to the bars, that way we don't spend a ton of money on drinks (it really adds up). So we usually try to keep it to 1 drink at the bar per night on the weekend and then use the rum to keep the buzz going.

Re: Ask HN: How's your drinking problem?

#50

Post by Alex3917 »

noahlt wrote: post #8

At the time of writing this comment, there is just one comment on this thread complaining about the amount of alcohol in company outings. That comment has been downvoted and is now marked [dead]. The question isn't about each individual's drinking problem. The question is about tech culture's drinking problem. And there's the answer: denial.

> The question is about tech culture's drinking problem.

Since when does tech even have a drinking culture, let alone a drinking problem? All the tech companies I've worked for have had a weekly happy hour where most people have a beer or two, and that's the extent of it. It's nothing like the sports world, where you have guys regularly downing 10 or 15 drinks on the bus or airplane. Or like the entertainment industry, where some of the top people in the field show up to work so shitfaced they can barely even stand up. Or like the mining industry in Siberia, where the nightly entertainment is/was sitting around with a bottle of vodka and some potatoes.

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