I am not sure what it is about journalists these days but they seem to have entirely forgotten what life was like in the 1980s. People seem to think that, you know, the special friends relationship of hooking up was invented by those with a Blackberry and that facing economic tough times is something that no one has coped with before. Odder, however, than forgetting the lax ways of amore and getting together with pals over a pot of weak tea is the idea that “pre-drinking” as described by the Toronto Star this morning is new:
Young people are engaging in a “new culture of intoxication” that even has its own buzzwords – “pre-drinking” or “pre-gaming.” If you’re a confused parent looking for a simple definition, just click on YouTube, or on urbandictionary.com, where it’s described as the “act of drinking alcohol before you go out to the club to maximize your fun at the club while spending the least amount on extremely overpriced alcoholic beverages.” This new form of binge drinking goes far beyond a warm-up to a night out with friends, says a new report by Centre for Addiction and Mental Health researcher Samantha Wells and two colleagues at the University of Toronto and University of Western Ontario. It’s an “intense, ritualized and unsupervised” drinkfest, in many cases perfectly timed so that the booze hits the bloodstream within minutes of stepping inside the bar, Wells said in a telephone interview from London, Ont.
Wow. They are “unsupervised” when they do this?!?!? Imagine that.
Did anyone involved with these studies ask a Maritimer who was in university a quarter century ago? Frankly, I still find it odd to be in a pub before ten in the evening given that the Halifax social scene required picking up a case (Nova Scotian for 12 beer) on the way home, having something for supper like K-D or oven fries and then landing at one house or another to, frankly, pound them back until it was time to get the taxi downtown. But these days I get all snoozy well too early for this sort of thing. I hardly make it to the end Num-Three-Ers on Friday night at eleven now. Yet somewhere some part of me is happy that gangs of the young are still being safely dumb in fun packs within reasonable parametres, singing at the tops of their lungs, turning into bags of seat as they slam-dance or whatever the kids are up to today.
[Original comments…]
Wilson – December 17, 2008 10:05 AM
http://www.brewvana.wordpress.com
We called it priming.
Paul of Kingston – December 17, 2008 10:11 AM
A warm up. Required gathering of a few close friends for a quick one before you parachute into the brutality of the “official” office Christmas gathering.
Next week the newest generation of drinkers will no doubt re-invent caps and funnelators.
The Beer Nut – December 17, 2008 11:19 AM
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com
It’s a real northern latitudes thing, isn’t it? We Northern Irish do it routinely (except me — I usually skip the going out bit), and I was very surprised to find — 80 miles down the road in the Republic — it’s not the done thing. The Norwegians are big into it as well, and the Scots also have a soft spot for a carry-out in my experience.
Alan – December 17, 2008 11:33 AM
Maybe that is it. I had a call from a pal on Baffin Island one Friday evening years ago to tell me, as he primed, that it was -65 outside. I said it was -55 where we were in the Upper Ottawa Valley where we, too, primed.
Ian in Cowtown – December 17, 2008 11:39 AM
We called it “warming up” in university 15 years ago and it was precisely like Alan’s description.
I don’t think its a northern latitudes thing. I think it has to do with the high tax on booze in Canada (and Norway as well) and the economically-challenged reality of the student.
When I was in Ontario, bars couldn’t (legally) offer happy hour pricing, so beer would be about $5 a pint at best. If you wanted to get a good buzz and enjoy the evening without cutting into next month’s rent, warming up was the only way to go.
Nice to see the tradition still lives…
Alan – December 17, 2008 11:43 AM
Just to be clear, I also did it in Poland in 1991 when a bottle of good vodka cost me about $2.75 Canadian. We have to remember what we call “kitchen parties” in the Maritimes are just good clean fun.
Dave (Pennsylvania) – December 17, 2008 3:54 PM
http://muckneybrewing.blogspot.com
I’m pretty sure it’s not just a Canadian/Norwegian thing (I guess we could through the Isles in there, too). Oh, back in the late 90’s early ’00s, while attending college here in the States, we had our share of pre-gaming experiences. I’m pretty sure the nail was hit on the head with the “not cutting into next month’s rent” comment.
A penny saved is one more penny toward a case of Yuengling, or something like that.
The Beer Nut – December 17, 2008 6:29 PM
http://thebeernut.blogspot.com
High tax on alcohol, indeed alcohol as a no-no generally, is a northern latitudes thing. It’s part of our rejection of the continental European approach to drink as a healthy part of life, to be enjoyed frequently in moderation. Nuts to that and get me six Special Brew and a shoulder of vodka.
JJ Bagley – December 17, 2008 7:04 PM
http://www.mutineermagazine.com/blog/
This sounds to me like forethought. As long as no one is driving your saving money and actually talking to friends not just yelling at them inside some loud club.
Ben (The Tiger) – December 17, 2008 9:58 PM
http://tigerathome.wordpress.com
Your description of Haligonian social rituals sounds almost exactly like my law school year.
So things haven’t changed much.
The Beerbuddha – December 18, 2008 4:38 PM
http://thebeerbuddha.blogspot.com
Binge drinking? Hell, I always thought I was being thrifty and social taking part in the “pre-game” ritual.
Knut Albert – December 19, 2008 7:14 AM
http://knutalbert.wordpress.com
Yes, this sound familiar. As a matter of fact we often spent the whole evening drinking at someone’s house, not having the funds to go to pubs or discos afterwards. Norway is more prosperous now than we were in the seventies and eighties, but the taxes and general price levels tend to produce just the sort of behaviour described. But it is also a stimulus for large scale smuggling (sometimes with methanol mixed in) and home destilling, and this black market is widely accepted, especially in the rural areas.