A couple of the blogs I read made a point of linking to this NYT Opinion blog post by Susan Cheever, who suggests that "no one gets drunk anymore" because addiction=powerlessness and we're all about power. Plus, apparently people like vacations better than drinking. Or her hypothesis goes something like that.
Here's what the bloggers think about that:
Paige at Deep Glamour, who's about my age, says:
Maybe it's a generational thing (I'm in my 30s), but I see plenty of drunken behavior... So Ms. Cheever can wax nostalgic all she wants about the days of drunken antics but I say, Look out your window girl. It's the holiday in New York. Three-fourths of those people out there are already drunk.
And over at Apartment Therapy, Janel in Chicago asks:
Have times changed?
To which her commenters have a variety of answers, obviously influenced by their ages and stages in life. But this is my favorite one, courtesy of commenter K T G:
It's funny how things are out of fashion when you get too old for them.
And to that I say, agreed. Just because Cheever's not drinking doesn't mean that nobody drinks anymore. Her circle isn't the only one out there. This is often my frustration with these softer sort of NYT pieces: the authors are under the impression that whatever's going on in their lives is what's going on in the world.
(As an aside, I'm certainly not saying it's a bad thing that Cheever doesn't drink, or that she's less fun for it. I have some non-drinking friends who are very fun, to say the least. Then again, Cheever doesn't actually sound that fun. But I doubt that's because of her not drinking.)
8 comments:
I know the older I get the less I drink like I did when I was younger... my husband on the other hand seems to keep going just like he did during his college years.
Some people get more entertaining the more they drink, some not so much. Than again if everyones drunk, who is going to remember the great time you had?
That's what digital video is for?
Kidding, of course...
How does your husband keep it up? I just can't drink like I did in college - my body won't allow me to. Which is fine...
You have NON-DRINKING friends???
I know - how do they tolerate me (esp me + Cooper), right?
I have no idea how he does it. He can come home at 3am and be completly functional and sober for work the next day at 7:30am....
I hate him for that, me if its past 12am I want to sleep till 2pm the next day.
I remember the days when I could stay out until 3 and still be functional the next morning...I remember them fondly.
I think Erin made the observation one time--and I agree--that it is almost more acceptable nowadays to act "drunk" after your college years (given the right situation) than it was in the past. Thank goodness for that.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure Erin's thoughts on that are an excellent example of rationalization. I have a feeling that every generation of post-college kids feels the same way.
Although, she might also be kind of influenced by her visits to my house, where the theme is always "let's prove to Erin that we're fun even though we're old"...
Post a Comment