In Houston Texas, at the airport, just ordered a beer at 10:40am

RandallFlagg

You should have seen her face, apparently I have to have some food served first, Texas law apparently. Brits abroad! I'm wearing an England cricket shirt, they saw me coming, I reckon airport security will be here in a minute.

lloyd

Sharpen your 50ps and get some chairs thrown, that'll learn em bloody yanks

Reminds me of when I went to Amsterdam for my 18th many moons ago, got to the first bar at 8:30am ordered beers, she looked at us funny-were British we said, she kind of shrugged and poured us our beers....

To be young and stupid again!

Chalky

Twenty years ago I was with my ex in a swanky fashionable hotel in Manhattan. Went for an evening meal in the restaurant, at the time when tiny food portions taken with one of any number of mineral waters was the fashion. We ordered a decent bottle of red along with food. Raised eyebrows from the other clients. We told them to bring it immediately rather than with the main course. A sussuration of comments.

When they served the first course I tapped the empty wine bottle with my fork, and in my best smooth upper-middle class accent, bade them "Same again Sir!"

Could've heard a pin-drop. The US attitude to drink is just weird...

RaymondLin

I don't think their attitude towards drink is weird as they think exactly the same to you guys, they are just different.

Danny1969

You can't buy beer before 10 am in my local co op .......... Now I don't drink before 8pm generally but when I'm getting bread and milk at 9:30 it's handy to pick up some beers for later at the same time so I might try to buy it earlier, so their law is a bit of a bind

I've drunk in Florida, Nashville, Alanta, Dallas, Mississippi, Memphis, New York and generally found Americans  do the whole bar thing far better than we do here. Waitress servie, tabs etc 

dafuzz

Hey man, you're in an airport - it's 5 o'clock somewhere

chrispy108

Danny1969 said:

I've drunk in Florida, Nashville, Alanta, Dallas, Mississippi, Memphis, New York and generally found Americans  do the whole bar thing far better than we do here. Waitress servie, tabs etc 

Bars only in commercial districts, miles away from houses, in places with no public transport and barely any cabs.

Wonder why drink driving is an issue?

mudslide73

They commented on my wife asking for a second glass of red with a meal when we were in Arizona. "Two glasses of wine? You're my kind of gal!".

Also US work colleague said "8 pints on a Friday night? That's a gallon of beer! You drank a gallon of beer!". I don't drink much at all now btw.

octatonic

RandallFlagg said:

 I'm wearing an England cricket shirt, they saw me coming, 

I think you're over-estimating the intelligence of the average Texan.

She probably thinks you are a Canadian with a weird sounding voice.

Reverend

mudslide73;1117383" said:

They commented on my wife asking for a second glass of red with a meal when we were in Arizona. "Two glasses of wine? You're my kind of gal!".

Also US work colleague said "8 pints on a Friday night? That's a gallon of beer! You drank a gallon of beer!". I don't drink much at all now btw.

I don't drink but have friends that would drink 2 gallons before hitting the stage.

Danny1969

My bass player has done 13 pints over 2 sets before, big lad mind. 

I generally do half a gallon myself over 2 sets. 

Axe_meister

I remember turning up to a bar in Spain with a mate.

Ordered breakfast and two beers.

Opposite us where two other blokes who looked a little worse for wear.

"Mum" as we called the bar made. Promptly went on to say we would look the 

same by the end of the week.

I don't think I have drunk so much in my entire life.

Our routine was.

Wake at at 11:00, get a full english with beer.

Hit the beach (with a cooler full of beer)

Back to the hotel at about 18:00 for an afternoon nap.

Then hit the bars/kebab shops at about 11pm.

Back to the hotel at about 2am for a shed load of whisky.

Collapse 

Repeat.

Snap

The Americans are mental when it comes to how they relate to alcohol. The place is full of contradictions.

I am in my mid 40s, and I certainly don't look under 21, yet despite my grey beard, get asked for ID. My old man, who is mid 70s was also asked.

Then you get into a bar, order a beer, to find that the beer is actually all between 6 and 9 percent ABV. The session beer, is a mere 5.5%.

But.. should you try to drink booze in a public place, you'd think you were advocating the worst offence ever. I was on a beach and pulled a beer out of my cool box, you'd think I'd laid out the worst pornography possible for all to see, judginby the looks of horror put my way.

But, drink driving is very common. Though in some states, whilst there's no big deal to getting behind your wheel slooshed, woe betide you if you don#t have your booze in the boot. If its in the car cabin, oh dear, naughty naughty.

crackpots.

RandallFlagg

And they think nothing of driving with no seatbelt or using their 'cell phone' while behind the wheel

chillidoggy

I got asked for ID to verify my age at TGI Fridays in Atlanta airport two years ago. I was 56 at the time.

Snap

Its a very odd thing. My brother who's been in the US for 16 years or more says its just the way it is, almost as if they are on auto pilot. They take the whole ID thing very seriously though.

I think when they asked my Dad, his response was something like "really???" and they reluctantly let him in without ID. But that is mad. He'd be one rough 21 year old.

Central Park, Sunday afternoon, sunny and warm, picnic, having a beer - big no-no. Why? Do they think I will rear up, piss in the boating lake and start a fight??

then, I AM English I suppose...

Its only the real rebels, those who live life on a knife edge, they are the ones who dare crack a beer on a beach. I've seen rozzers do people for having a beer on a beach. A spliff - fine, beer? No way.

Chalky

Exactly my experience @Snap. They are like kids who were never allowed sweets and now think its really BAD to enjoy them.

randella

Snap said:

Its a very odd thing. My brother who's been in the US for 16 years or more says its just the way it is, almost as if they are on auto pilot. They take the whole ID thing very seriously though.

I suspect (I've never been to the US) that it might be similar to the Australian system.  Before you can work in a job serving booze, you have to take the RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) course.  If you serve underage and are caught, the bar can be fined AU$21,000, a good chunk of which they're legally entitled to extract from the staff member who served the drink.  These prices were correct as of 2003, so you can imagine it's only gone up.

Add to this the fact that, in Queensland at least, students can start university at 17 (the drinking age is 18) and ID'ing becomes routine.  Everyone gets ID'd, that way no-one objects or feels singled out.

Back in the UK, Mrs. Randella loves getting ID'd, it always cheers her up

Snap

Theres a pretty hefty fine here in the UK as well, for the establishment.

The way the USA go, its bollocks though. There is no way on earth that my old man could be under 21, not even to a blind man. THe notion of asking him for ID is moronic.

What it is reflective of, is a society that is obsessed with following rules and terrified of not conforming. When you spend time in USA, you soon start to see that they are generally ultra conservative, cautious, polite conformists. So, if you say something goes, it goes, all the way, without question.

They like their rules. Some of the funniest sets of rules are dress codes for bars. One said you werent allowed to wear (amongst loads of stuff) - white t shirts or loose clothing. Loose clothing??! And what is up with a white t shirt? Why not say no sky blue t shirts? What about cream/ivory? Nah mate, its not white, its actually cream, so can I come in??  Its not loose either, its not tight mate, but come on, its not LOOSE, maybe a bit baggy perhaps.....

LoFi

Happens all the time in the States - a Norwegian colleague of mine (early-50's) was incensed at being ID'd in an airport bar, not accepting that they do it to literally everyone (or acknowledging that, being in an airport, everyone had ID on them). I was initially refused service in downtown Seattle last year (had stupidly left my passport in the hotel), but eventually managed to get a beer - possibly due to the fact that I'd been in the same bar the previous night (still without ID) and had been tipping fairly liberally. (I'm 35, and look every day of it).

Re drinking culture, LA is the worst for this. First night I was there, we got dragged to some awful health food restaurant in Santa Monica where fancy fruit juices were the order of the day (then-GF's sister in law was a yoga instructor or something). Ordered a beer, waitress's eyebrows shot off the top of her head. (Also worth mentioning you can't smoke on any of the main streets in Santa Monica - you have to go at least 10 yards down a side road).

San Francisco is much more relaxed (about the drinking, not the smoking) but, as someone noted, look out for the ABVs - I had 5 US pints (16oz) of various different beers, and found things going decidedly blurry. Turns out they were all between 7 and 9%.

Evilmags

I remember doing a presentation in Boston over dinner and ordered a large red. One of the clients juniors said "my god the analyst drinks". Hilarious. Especially as he was 25 stone.