Middle Class Drinking (anecdotal)

[reddog]

I just went to a Sainsbury's today that is not my usual.

 

This Sainsbury is in a very middle class area.  One thing i really noticed is that the alcohol section is about twice the size of the one in the Sainsbury that i usually use.

 

The usual Sainsbury is in a very working class area (Predominantly white, but other ethic groups, less so Muslim - just pointing that out as some might think it has an impact on the areas alcohol consumption).

 

In the working class area there is a small hardcore of drinkers killing themselves slowly everyday from 9am in the local Weatherspoons.

 

But judging by the Sainsbury alcohol section in the middle class area, i can't help thinking there are a lot if problems with more professional people drinking behind closed doors every night.

[winkie]

 

[developer]

Middle class people can afford to drink more and usually have stressful 'career' type jobs.

I think I would like to be high upper middle class, to the point where I have enough money and relaxing enough lifestyle I won't want to drink much

[winkie]

5 minutes ago, developer said:

Middle class people can afford to drink more and usually have stressful 'career' type jobs.

So many things wrong about that statement....are you born middle class or do you become middle class.....do you pay for drink or do you make your own drink or do you not drink at all.....do only middle class drink or do those higher or lower drink or abstain from drinking?.........Jobs,they can be stressful to both the lower, middle and upper class.....stress does not pick a particular 'class' of person, we pick and choose our own stresses and fears.

[reddog]

I might be being a bit puritanical because I hardly ever drink apart from on social occasions now (admittedly I am going to the pub tonight!!).

 

But you do wonder what is going on behind closed doors for some people with supposedly ideal lives.

 

Have known a few senior managers that look pretty rough first thing in the morning, and can hardly keep a thought in their head (to the point where you wonder whether they have a drink or drugs problem).  Usually they use their mouths to paper over the crack's.

[blobloblob]

During a conversation at work two people said they drink every single day, usually at home. This surprised me a lot, especially one who said he has around a bottle of wine a night plus the odd whisky. I would genuinely never have guessed. 

[winkie]

10 minutes ago, reddog said:

I might be being a bit puritanical because I hardly ever drink apart from on social occasions now (admittedly I am going to the pub tonight!!).

 

But you do wonder what is going on behind closed doors for some people with supposedly ideal lives.

 

Have known a few senior managers that look pretty rough first thing in the morning, and can hardly keep a thought in their head (to the point where you wonder whether they have a drink or drugs problem).  Usually they use their mouths to paper over the crack's.

Very few people have the ideal life....and if they do it does not last forever....ebbs and flows.

Many drugs/addictions covers/disguises the pain of living.....drink, drugs, shopping, prescribed drugs, quick fixes etc, etc....many people are living a lie, a coverup.

[200p]

I've got a big mortgage which is on a 2 year rate viable. I drive a new luxury german 4x4 on finance. I've updated my facebook with my latest holidays abroad, and ski trips.

I've got to hit these targets at work or I get fired. I've got 5 credit cards and 3x £25K loans. I've nearly maxed out my overdraft and the boilers gone.

 

Drink> Anyone? Hell yes.

[200p]

FEVR has done well but, it's bull run has been long in the tooth. DIS might be worth a look but do your own research.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

If you like beer, does that make you working class?

[200p]

1 minute ago, 24 year mortgage 8itch said:

If you like beer, does that make you working class?

 

Not if it's a niche boutique beer served in a art nouveau beer glass, sipped in a classy bar overlooking Sandbanks.

[19 year mortgage 8itch]

2 minutes ago, 200p said:

 

Not if it's a niche boutique beer served in a art nouveau beer glass, sipped in a classy bar overlooking Sandbanks.

What if it has a Pratchetesque name and is served by a man with a Gandalf beard and moobs?

[200p]

Erm. For extra measure, dress like a hipster, grow a beard, and order cornflakes with the Beer just to be sure.

And have your Mac Book Pro under your arm too.

[Sledgehead]

32 minutes ago, 200p said:

FEVR has done well but, it's bull run has been long in the tooth

 

I thought you had to drink methanol to damage your eyes?

[reddog]

28 minutes ago, 24 year mortgage 8itch said:

If you like beer, does that make you working class?

Only if it is something like Carling, Stella or Heineken.

 

If it is some craft ale (which i i drink, but i used to call it bitter),  i would say it is quite upmarket.

[Sledgehead]

27 minutes ago, reddog said:

 

If it is some craft ale (which i i drink, but i used to call it bitter),  i would say it is quite upmarket.

Yeah, but to be honest, who can tell when it's inside a brown paper bag?

And, more to the point, who gives a f*** when you smell of pi$$?

Not that I'm suggesting that anyone who drinks to "wind down" from a stressful day is in any way self-medicating and therefore building up a pattern of alcohol dependence that could so easily ruin their life. Perish the thought!

[developer]

Just now, Sledgehead said:

Not that I'm suggesting that anyone who drinks to "wind down" from a stressful day is in any way self-medicating and therefore building up a pattern of alcohol dependence that could so easily ruin their life. Perish the thought!

^^ I don't think I drink enough  

[frozen_out]

At one point I was getting worried by my alcohol consumption - I was having a drink maybe 3 nights a week. 3 500ml bottles of something, usually Landlord.

Anyways, I did the school run on recycling day one week. It was unbelievable. One house had so many wine bottles they had to order them carefully in the recycling box so they would fit. I decided after that that I needed to up my game rather than cut back!

[Sledgehead]

35 minutes ago, hotairmail said:

I'm resolutely middle class, I have absolutely no problems in my life but I drink loads seemingly. Recycling week I call "the bin of shame" where you publicly have to declare your drinking habits.

This is like saying "I'm so embarrassed about being so good looking".

You call it a bin of shame but are clearly quite proud of your drinking.

 

[interestrateripoff]

If you are middle class why would you be stressed over your job? Now if your pretending to be middle class....

[Horridbloke]

4 hours ago, 200p said:

 

Not if it's a niche boutique beer served in a art nouveau beer glass, sipped in a classy bar overlooking Sandbanks.

There are no classy bars at Sandbanks.

[Economic Exile]

I'm an ex alcoholic and have been sober for 25+ years. 

IMO alcohol is the most damaging drug out there. Many ruined lives, ruined health and a drain on finances. It's so easy to buy now and many people drink at home.

Every street, hamlet and rural area IMO has alcohol addicts hiding behind closed doors. Excess alcohol consumption isn't just a middle class problem.

Becoming addicted to alcohol is insidious. One seems to cross a line where alcohol becomes a necessity. Then the shit hits the fan!

I have nothing against people enjoying alcoholic drinks though as long as they are in control and not the alcohol.

[reddog]

I think some one has said one here before, there are 2 classes.  Those that need to work and those that don't.

 

When i said middle class, i was more referring to 'professionals'

 

In all honesty, in my home town of Birmingham,  many so called professionals are just as reliant on the government as a 16 year old single mom.

 

Most professionals now in Brum are in teaching, health, council admin, finance (kept going by the government giving a license to create money out of nothing).

 

If the government had to take  an extreme line and cut government spending to nothing, there are some in the middle class that would fair a lot worse than some in the working class.

[frozen_out]

5 minutes ago, Economic Exile said:

I'm an ex alcoholic and have been sober for 25+ years. 

IMO alcohol is the most damaging drug out there. Many ruined lives, ruined health and a drain on finances. It's so easy to buy now and many people drink at home.

Every street, hamlet and rural area IMO has alcohol addicts hiding behind closed doors. Excess alcohol consumption isn't just a middle class problem.

Becoming addicted to alcohol is insidious. One seems to cross a line where alcohol becomes a necessity. Then the shit hits the fan!

I have nothing against people enjoying alcoholic drinks though as long as they are in control and not the alcohol.

Where would you say the line is crossed?

I grew up with an alcoholic - someone whose money had to be rationed otherwise it would all end up drunk. Got up first thing on a morning, had a cuppa and breakfast, then straight on the booze. Every day. The irony is that by my reckoning his alcohol consumption wasn't actually that high (as long as it was rationed), it was just chronic and required.

There's more to it than excess alcohol consumption. It's funny, as I mentioned earlier in the thread I drink regularly, but my children have never seen me drunk. I couldn't do it. But I think I drink too much. 

[Millaise]

The amount of sleep we get, and when we get it, means that many of us are now-a-days  chronically sleep deprived. We then take coffee in the morning to get going, and alcohol at night to shut the system down.

Good old Tim Martin of J. D. Wetherspoon has pointed out that it is safer to drink in pubs socially than to do it alone in the confines of your home, but the VAT system helps makes supermarket grog much cheaper than that sold by pubs.