Staying In v Going Out

[Scorge]

2 hours ago, coprolite said:

Interesting how many people have automatically linked this to boozing. Not judging, it was my first thought too, but i wonder how many other nations would make that connection automatically and not think it was between say, eating in/ eating out or telly vs cinema.

It's a very Scottish epidemic. Since sobering up the only things that will have me out of the house after 10/11ish would be the odd poker tournament at the local casino, a gig, or a late showing down at the pics. Pre-wagon, I'd be out a lot just for the sake of it sometimes. Genuinely struggle to comprehend it nowadays especially given the cost involved, doubly so if you're not in/around an urban centre.

[TheScarf]

[TheScarf]

As i've gotten older I only really go out for set things.  A football match, a charity event, birthday party, wedding etc.

Before the football I'll have a couple of pints but very rarely do I go out after.  A couple of times a season usually.  With that said, I'm on the all dayer tomorrow and next Saturday, but again both because of football.  I don't just text my mate now asking them for an off the cuff piss up like I did 10-15 years ago.

[welshbairn]

Used to go out 3 nights a week minimum but didn't drink at home so was probably healthier. Ten years of 24/7 care duties put pay to that, and Covid killed off the evening habit completely, just a few pints out on match days now, usually home straight after the game.

[Venti]

Tune for a Friday

 

[TheScarf]

Their best song IMO.

[Venti]

49 minutes ago, TheScarf said:

Their best song IMO.

Underrated band. They've got a few belters.

 

[Richey Edwards]

I have anxiety and prefer to do things at home so only go out for specific things i.e. football matches, meals, concerts, university lectures etc.

I don't drink alcohol either and haven't done so for six years now. I avoid events that involve alcohol because drunk people are a pain in the ass.

[Venti]

1 hour ago, Richey Edwards said:

I have anxiety and prefer to do things at home so only go out for specific things i.e. football matches, meals, concerts, university lectures etc.

I don't drink alcohol either and haven't done so for six years now. I avoid events that involve alcohol because drunk people are a pain in the ass.

Everyone is a pain in the arse tbh. Surely after 6yrs in recovery you should be comfortable going out for a bit?

[Richey Edwards]

1 minute ago, Venti said:

Everyone is a pain in the arse tbh. Surely after 6yrs in recovery you should be comfortable going out for a bit?

It's nothing to do with feeling "uncomfortable". I just don't like it. I can think of a million better things to do than go to such places.

[Venti]

1 minute ago, Richey Edwards said:

It's nothing to do with feeling "uncomfortable". I just don't like it. I can think of a million better things to do than go to such places.

Fair enough. I didn't mean to seem pushy. Far too many people that insist that you 'have a good time'.

Don't want to come across like that.

[Hillonearth]

17 hours ago, Todd_is_God said:

I prefer staying in tbh. Much better to have friends over than go out to pay higher prices for an inferior night.

No closing time, no bams.

Factor in the non existent public transport network to where I live and the difficulty in getting a taxi its rarely worth the hassle.

I do like going out for specific events (football, racing etc) so I do still go out, but, unlike when I was younger, I can't remember the last time when I had some free time and no plans that I fancied just going to the pub for a few drinks.

Covid broke that habit and routine, I think, and now that I've bought some beer dispensers and broadened my tastes in beer styles etc, i'm really not that enthused by the prospect of a few pints of the overpriced, brewed under licence, pale imitations of the real thing that us UK pub punters are served on draught.

I'd agree with that...the covid thing changed a lot of habits in terms of how I like to spend a night out...obviously going to an event (football/gig etc.) is a completely different kettle of fish, but that random night in the boozer doesn't float my boat any more in the way it used to...the concept of paying over the odds just to be in an annoyingly-busy room where it takes ages to get served doesn't have the same appeal it did.

It's happened a couple of times recently when I've been out for a meal with the missus...more often than not previously it was a case of going on somewhere afterwards, but now halfway through the second drink one or other of us has tended to say "This is a bit shite...you want to go home and just have a drink there...?"

[Richey Edwards]

32 minutes ago, Venti said:

Fair enough. I didn't mean to seem pushy. Far too many people that insist that you 'have a good time'.

Don't want to come across like that.

I have "gone out" and know when the "twilight zone" descends (i.e. when everyone is talking absolute shite) that it is time that I leave.

Usually when people find out that I am a student mental health nurse, they start asking me random questions about their physical health. Last time I was out, someone kept asking me if their shite was "normal". 

I told them to look up the Bristol Stool Chart and take guidance from that.

[Monkey Tennis]

If heading out, I vastly prefer an afternoon drink to an evening one these days.

[TxRover]

On 21/04/2023 at 06:02, Richey Edwards said:

I have anxiety and prefer to do things at home so only go out for specific things i.e. football matches, meals, concerts, university lectures etc.

I don't drink alcohol either and haven't done so for six years now. I avoid events that involve alcohol because drunk people are a pain in the ass.

There is a certain pleasure in people watching at said events, though.

[Richey Edwards]

16 minutes ago, TxRover said:

There is a certain pleasure in people watching at said events, though.

I agree. People think alcohol makes them invisible.

[DA Baracus]

I like both.

I think the cost of drinks, especially pints, is a massive factor in folk not going out to bars and/or clubs. For younger folk starting out drinking the cost is so prohibitive for doing so outside of their accommodation. More often younger folk will drink more indoors to get loaded up then go to pubs and/or clubs after to meet folk.

Sadly the cost of drinks is only going to continue to increase, and will increase more in relation to wage increases.

Genuinely think that the entire pub industry is in massive trouble. It could be utterly knackered with only a couple of chains, like Wetherpoons and Greene King, taking over them all. Sadly much of this is down to regular government increases in duty.

[ICTChris]

9 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

 

Genuinely think that the entire pub industry is in massive trouble. It could be utterly knackered with only a couple of chains, like Wetherpoons and Greene King, taking over them all. Sadly much of this is down to regular government increases in duty.

Many years ago I worked for a large brewery and pub chain.  I worked in the IT Department so didn't have direct involvement in managing pubs or policy or anything but we would get presentations from the business in those areas to tell us about their strategy for the future.  One of them was about how they expected the soon-to-be introduced smoking ban to impact pubs.  What they said was that for some pubs the ban would be a positive - pubs that had a lot of space and good catering facilities could pivot to offering food, pubs that had large outdoor areas away from the front door would benefit, they could put in large tables with cover and heating to allow smokers to sit outside in all weathers.  The pubs they expected to be negatively impacted as pubs that didn't do food, have any outdoor space and would have smokers standing at the front door.  I think a lot of traditional pubs fall into that category and chain pubs are more likely to be in the first category.

As well as that, I think society has changed from when I was a kid.  I look at my nieces and nephews and while they do go out they probably have more varied tastes for going out than my generation did.  Genuinely up to my mid-20s I just wanted to go out somewhere, have a few beers and that was it.  Younger people today have higher standards I think - they are more into food and coffee and are picky about beers and other alcoholic drinks.  This isn't me saying "bloody millenials, they ruined pubs", I think that's better than things were in my day.  Also, as you say, economic pressures, prices and taxes on pub served drinks are a big factor as well.  

[Hedgecutter]

10 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

Genuinely think that the entire pub industry is in massive trouble. It could be utterly knackered with only a couple of chains, like Wetherpoons and Greene King, taking over them all. 

It's like the Taco Bell thing from Demolition Man.

[gannonball]

11 hours ago, DA Baracus said:

 

 

 

Genuinely think that the entire pub industry is in massive trouble. It could be utterly knackered with only a couple of chains, like Wetherpoons and Greene King, taking over them all. 

This, I stay in Stirling and just about all the big main centre pubs are Greene King or a franchise of it. One of them  stinks of piss but they won't pay to sort the drainage. I was in a Green Kings in Aberdeen too recently they had buckets out in areas where the roof was leaking. It's no wonder folk prefer to stay in when GK even aren't arsed about whether their own brand pints are being served flat etc. The latter is definitely a more wide Scottish thing though we seem to accept any old shite being served to us. It's annoying me a bit more now with the prices of pints now around a 5er.