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Original poster

Alcohol & daytime drinking now unfashionable & is judged?

114 replies

101cockerspaniels · 26/05/2023 12:14

Met friends for lunch a fortnight ago & was excited to meet up for a catch up &, our usual glasses of wine.. All three had varied excuses for not drinking & I felt judged for having a couple of glasses of wine! One referred to me jokingly as the "daytime drinker"..
They drank non alcoholic cocktails & some type of flavoured bubbly water in fancy glasses..
Is alcohol in general & lunchtime drinking gone out of fashion? For the record all of us are early 40s..

OP posts:
BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 26/05/2023 12:46

Totally prefer afternoon drinks then home about 7 for a snack and an early night!

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 26/05/2023 12:48

Fancy going to the pub now. 😀

SpringSummerDreamer · 26/05/2023 12:50

Unless you live in the centre of a city, with no work and childcare responsibilities, how do you do manage daytime drinking? I always have to drive/school pickup/be alert, so the only opportunity for a glass of wine with lunch would be on holiday!

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MrsAnonstrikesagain · 26/05/2023 12:51

If we are going out, I prefer a meal at 4pm, with wine (and more wine), and then getting home at about 7pm. Definitely day drink on holiday - normally have a beer by 10am!

adriftabroad · 26/05/2023 12:51

BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz · 26/05/2023 12:46

Totally prefer afternoon drinks then home about 7 for a snack and an early night!

Me too.

Do not understand the objection to daytime drinks. I prefer it to 8pm onwards drinks.

ididntknowthat11 · 26/05/2023 12:51

In that age group, no I've never experienced that, most of us love a daytime drink and those who don't don't judge.

But younger ones, yes, big time. There's a large number of teens / early 20s now who don't drink at all and find drunkenness old fashioned and cringey.

KimberleyClark · 26/05/2023 12:52

When I first started working in the early 80s it was perfectly normal and acceptable to go to the pub for lunch and have a drink. Especially on Fridays and especially in the summer. I think it started to become unacceptable around the turn of the millennium, and by the mid noughties it was completely unacceptable. I’m retired now and love the very occasional cheeky lunchtime glass of wine.

LuciferRising · 26/05/2023 12:55

I can't be bothered with day time drinking anymore but I threw a lunch time party recently and offered alcohol.

But aren't you judging them - 'varied excuses.'

Do people have to have excuses for not drinking?

Anaemiafog · 26/05/2023 12:58

I've been teetotal for years and was usually the only one not drinking in the large group I meet up with regularly for Sunday lunch and a lazy afternoon in the beer garden, now drinking is the exception. I've definitely noticed a shift.

RubyMurry22 · 26/05/2023 12:59

My daughters aged 19 and 21 don’t really drink and neither do their friends. So I think it’s a generational thing too.

QueenieMe · 26/05/2023 13:00

I can't drink during the day now I'm 51, it just makes me feel shit and my hangovers go on for ages. But I wouldn't begrudge any of my friends who still wanted to get stuck in!

kingtamponthefurred · 26/05/2023 13:01

Drinking in the evening messes with sleep as one gets older, so if I'm going to do it, I do it early.

penniesmakeshillingsandshillingsmakepounds · 26/05/2023 13:02

I don't drink but if I was to meet friends and they wanted to have afternoon drinks I would not bat an eyelid. Now if they were getting drunk or messy I would make my excuses and leave because I don't enjoy drunk company but a few wines in the afternoon? Where is the harm in that?

That said, when I did drink and those I was with were not drinking, I wouldn't bother either.

MrsDanversGlidesAgain · 26/05/2023 13:03

KimberleyClark · 26/05/2023 12:52

When I first started working in the early 80s it was perfectly normal and acceptable to go to the pub for lunch and have a drink. Especially on Fridays and especially in the summer. I think it started to become unacceptable around the turn of the millennium, and by the mid noughties it was completely unacceptable. I’m retired now and love the very occasional cheeky lunchtime glass of wine.

I worked in the City of London in the 70s. It was very usual that after 11am, if you wanted to speak to certain managers, you had to go to the pub to look for them. And that 'business lunches' went on to late afternoon.

LaDamaDeElche · 26/05/2023 13:03

If you haven't got anything on in the afternoon, surely it's much better to swap boozy dinners for boozy lunches. You can go home afterwards, drink water and sober up, go to bed at your normal time and wake up hangover free! I'd say daytime drinking is the suitable alternative to nighttime drinking as you get older!

momager1 · 26/05/2023 13:04

We live in a tourist hotspot with lots of AI hotels. It is not unusual to see someone walking the beach at 8 am with a beer in hand. I don't judge, they are likely on holiday. I love a mid day margarita. basically, you do you, and unless someone is falling down drunk and making an ass of themselves, let them do them

strawberrywhisk · 26/05/2023 13:06

I used to love having a glass or two of wine whilst having lunch, but I find lately I just end up with an afternoon hangover.

FrenchandSaunders · 26/05/2023 13:08

Love a day time drink with friends or DDs … or even DH.

I remember meeting my ante natal group mums with babies in the early 2000s and the host would always offer a glass of wine with lunch.
I’d imagine that’s frowned upon now!

alloalloallo · 26/05/2023 13:10

I used to love a couple of lunchtime drinks but I end up completely useless by late afternoon so I avoid it now. I end up hungover all evening and then can’t sleep when I go to bed

I love a few very cold shandies in a beer garden on a sunny afternoon

CottagePieLaLaLa · 26/05/2023 13:13

If it's a business lunch then I don't think drinking is a good idea, at least in the UK. If it's a personal lunch then no issue - I don't just because all I want to do afterwards is sleep!

Addymontgomeryfan · 26/05/2023 13:14

A few glasses of wine with lunch out is normal for me, however a new friend that I went for lunch with recently was shocked that I was drinking wine on a Friday lunchtime.

ThreeRingCircus · 26/05/2023 13:15

I think there has been a shift, yes.

Having said that I much prefer drinks at lunchtime/in the afternoon then home at 5pm, snacks in front of the TV, an early night and no hangover the next day.

My friends and I (mid 30s) now tend to do lunchtime drinks/bottomless brunch type things rather than nights out and it's way nicer. We all have young children so get some time out then it's no issue being up at 6am with DC the following day.

MrsMorrisey · 26/05/2023 13:15

Cryingbutstilltrying · 26/05/2023 12:26

I used to love a lunchtime drink but as the years have gone on, I find I’m pretty useless for the rest of the afternoon, even if it’s only 1 glass of wine. When the kids need to be taken about and with limited downtime, I find more and more that it’s just not worth it.
I would not judge my friends for drinking though, I would probably be quite jealous. After 8pm all bets are off though, I tend to make those arrangements if I can!

Same. Instant headache but later I'm fine. I'm miss those days

MrsSkylerWhite · 26/05/2023 13:16

Personally can’t at lunchtime because it makes me want to go to sleep 😄 wouldn’t occur to me to have an opinion on what friends did, though.

gamerchick · 26/05/2023 13:17

Day drinking is far more preferable than evening. Means you can have a tipsy afternoon, sober by the evening and no hangover the next day. What's not to like if you've got nothing on that day?!

Rare I get to do it now but it's nice now and then when it's warm