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Slate: 'How normal is your drinking?'

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Oct 8, 2014.

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  1. The Big Ragu

    The Big Ragu Moderator Staff Member

    When you compare how much you drink to the top decile of drinkers who are downing 75 drinks a week, you are comparing yourself to the people who have severe drinking problems (not to state the obvious :) ).

    That top decile consumes MOST of the alcohol in this country. The median consumption for those who do drink is just 3 drinks per week, and you have the bottom three deciles of people in this country who don't drink at all.

    The sheer number -- how 10 percent of people can drink that much -- is shocking to anyone who can't get through the day without drinking a couple of 6 packs or a pint of whiskey. But those are the ones drinking that much. Alcohol has a stranglehold on their lives.

    The original Washington Post article that referenced that data pointed out that that kind of consumption distribution will make sense to anyone familiar the Pareto Effect, or the 80-20 rule. i.e. -- in business, "80 percent of your business often comes front 20 percent of your customers." It's true for a ton of products, not just alcohol. What makes alcohol (and cigarettes and other things that are probably bad for you) different is that you have industries dependent on the subset of people who are hurting themselves.
     
    The Big Ragu, Oct 8, 2014
    #37
  2. doctorquant

    doctorquant Well-Known Member

    For my wife and me, a typical evening involves one, maybe two light beers -- Coors Light or Miller Light -- followed by a split bottle of wine. By my calculations that's about 4.5 "standard" drinks (0.6 ounces of alcohol per standard drink) a night ... but we don't do that every night (OK, OK ... so it's five nights out of seven, but still).
     
    doctorquant, Oct 8, 2014
    #38
  3. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    That's pretty comparable to my experience. I bought an 24-pack of beer in May; at least 15 are still sitting in the fridge.

    I don't go out to bars or anything where you drink alcohol; I visit family 90 miles away once or twice a month but I never drink because I don't want to tempt the DUI gods by blowing an 0.03 on the way home.

    I drink one or two beers a month. That's it.

    In my younger wilder college and young-adult days I probably put away 30-40 a week at times -- there were stretches where I was drinking 3-4 beers EVERY day and 8-12 once or twice a week.

    But 70+ a week? Jesus. I doubt I ever once in my life had 70 drinks in a week.
     
    Starman, Oct 8, 2014
    #39
  4. hondo

    hondo Well-Known Member

    Guy walks in a bar, already visibly drunk. Orders a drink from the bartender, then slumps his head on the bar.
    "I can't serve you," the bartender says. "You're already so drunk you can't lift your head up."
    "Okay," the drunk said, "then give me a haircut."
     
    hondo, Oct 8, 2014
    #40
  5. joe

    joe Active Member

    A friend of mine would get up in the middle of the night and drink a pint to a fifth of vodka, going through at least a gallon a day. He lost his wife, job, and license to drive (for 10 years) in that order. He's been sober for four months or so. I hope he can keep it up because if he starts drinking again, he's going to be dead in short order.
     
    joe, Oct 8, 2014
    #41
  6. spikechiquet

    spikechiquet Well-Known Member

    My heyday in college and the start of my career, maybe I hit that mark. I was a big fan of rum at the time, so it was easy to triple and quad shots in a 12oz glass and top with Coke. I would have 6 or 7 of those, along with a shot or two with each glass of rum and you are looking at 28 "drinks" in a night. Do that twice or three times per weekend and have a few beers while doing stuff during the week and I bet I was around that mark of 10/day.
    Now, I have 5-6 beers on one night when I am off and not leaving the house and maybe 1 or 2 the other night I am off. Funny what 15 years changes! :)
     
    spikechiquet, Oct 8, 2014
    #42
  7. old_tony

    old_tony Well-Known Member

    Did you say, "Yes, from journalism."
     
    old_tony, Oct 9, 2014
    #43
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