You are viewing a single thread.
View all comments
193 points

This is particularly American sensibility about not drinking alcohol casually around children. It’s very strange. In the UK and Europe, if a kid is having a birthday party at their house it’s completely normal for the adults to be having a casual beer or wine and socialising whilst the children play, obviously not drinking to get drunk and within the legal limits for the driver.

permalink
report
reply
98 points

Honestly it’s just pearl clutching. The same people are probably sneaking wine at their 8 year olds little league game in the bubba 64 oz trucker travel tankard.

permalink
report
parent
reply
30 points

From people close the me, the ones that are MAGA/religious all were actually the most depraved ones when they were younger.

I don’t know if they think of they have to make it up for those years to still be able to get to heaven or something.

permalink
report
parent
reply
11 points

Youth church functions were always more depraved than anything agnostic.

permalink
report
parent
reply
5 points

You don’t care so much about Jesus’ blood covering up your sins unless you’ve got some shit to cover up.

permalink
report
parent
reply
15 points

Bro it’s perfectly normal for Americans to do this too…

I swear, the Twitter snowflakes want to use the lamest of dunks to own the Libs. Then they fail to realize that they might do this themselves.

Aww, who am I kidding. Twitter shills don’t engage in family functions, or have kids for that matter.

permalink
report
parent
reply
40 points

Hiding it from kids obviously will prevent them from ever using it or being curious!

God forbid we have open and honest conversations with kids so they learn how to use things responsibly.

permalink
report
parent
reply
-11 points

Given that alcohol is a hard drug with severe social and personal consequences when abused i find that sentiment a bit shortsighted. We rightfully don’t accept casual consumption of cocaine or heroin around children. We shouldn’t set the model that alcohol is just a casual thing to consume on any given afternoon.

Me and many friends as teenagers wen we got shitfaced in unhealthy and dangerous ways just laughed at our parents critizising us, because of how normalized their consumption was.

So between responsible consumption and casual consumption is a huge difference. Especially when there is small kids around, who might end up just drinking from the jar right in their reach.

permalink
report
parent
reply
14 points

So hiding it and not telling kids about it is a solution, which makes them curious, and then go eat overboard. Which is what I did.

What is much better is what Europeans do, where they have a much healthier view of alcohol, grow up around it, know what it is and does, and don’t have nearly the unhealthy binging Americans do. On top of that they also aren’t having an opioid crisis.

permalink
report
parent
reply
11 points

1 wine = 1 cocaine = 1 heroin

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

I am all about being honest about calling alcohol a drug, but a “hard drug”? Buddy…

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points
*

We rightfully don’t accept casual consumption of cocaine or heroin around children.

Disingenuous bullshit - there is no such thing as “casual consumption of heroin.” You can’t use heroin without getting high, but you can absolutely drink alcohol without getting drunk.

permalink
report
parent
reply
21 points

They need to protect the children from alcohol and trans people because then they get shot at in schools.

permalink
report
parent
reply
25 points
*

It’s strange here in the US too. I don’t know anyone that has a problem with that. That kind of puritanical attitude about drinking is not the prevailing sentiment here. Sure, my friends and I aren’t getting plastered at BBQ’s like we did in college, but it’s not like we aren’t having some beers at a cookout just because half of us have kids now. It’s just a vocal religious minority making a lot of noise. Don’t get me wrong, this country does have a different, more uptight, relationship with alcohol than Europe, but it’s not nearly as extreme as it may appear online and in media.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

It does happen though. My wife’s grandmother was an alcohol abolitionist. We’re not talking the 1800s here, I’m not that old. She died in the 2000s. But she was super religious and was part of a temperance movement.

Anyway, once she died, the beer and wine started coming out at family gatherings and they have not turned into raucous affairs. The kids at the gatherings seem to be doing fine.

permalink
report
parent
reply
0 points

This is a very large country, and the culture (alcohol in particular) varies wildly by location.

permalink
report
parent
reply
18 points

Nah, my Catholic extended family always had a jug of Carlo Rossi (garbage wine sold in gallon jugs, for those lucky enough to be unfamiliar) at every family gathering. No one was ever worried about there being kids. Evangelicals are just lame.

permalink
report
parent
reply
10 points

Where I live you can be absolutely sure the adults are getting drunk

permalink
report
parent
reply
16 points

Also Mexicans drink around their kids during social events all the time. It’s a joke in my family that the only reason adults put on parties for their kids is so they can drink with their friends.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

So many people trying to say it is normal in the US, but it is the US the one with the rule of having a paper bag to cover alcohol anywhere public. Sure at home it might also be more normal but that is already indicative of a certain point of view which I’m guessing is what OP was talking about.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points
*

but it is the US the one with the rule of having a paper bag to cover alcohol anywhere public.

No it isn’t. This is a state-by-state thing. Many states don’t allow you to consume alcohol in public, period. Some don’t care (I think Louisiana is pretty lax regarding this if I recall?)

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Ah, understood, thanks for pointing it out

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points
*

This is particularly American sensibility about not drinking alcohol casually around children

Shockingly this will vary by family. Some families take their kids bar hopping while they drink to excess, some drink casually and not in excess, and some are sober around their kids, and some remain sober all the time. My wife grew up hanging out in bars with her parents biker friends and their kids. She learned to watch some of them and save the good homemade wine when someone was about to topple. I grew up with parents who would have a single drink with dinner one to two times a week and would avoid getting drunk (at least that I know of).

Personally, as a parent and living in an area with a strong alcohol culture and with alcoholic family members, I drink very rarely (the alcoholic family members really kill my desire to drink), and when I do I make sure we have more than enough adults available to parent and drive if needed. I also am very much a lightweight so there is no drinking without getting noticeably giggly and sloppy. My wife feels and acts similarly but is not a lightweight and can realistically drink one drink and be visibly unaffected.

I honestly think the OP is less about the presence of alcohol around children but more just calling out a wine mom as such

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

I’m American, but Jewish. Wine is part of sabbath dinners. Especially during religious holidays. I was drinking wine at Passover seders when I was 8 or 9.

Amazingly, am not an alcoholic at 47. I do enjoy a small glass of port in the evening though.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

My god, it’s incredible you made it out alive.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

I have suffered for my port.

permalink
report
parent
reply
10 points

This is a generalization. Lots of American families of all backgrounds can have alcohol during family meals and social time.

People have drinks at birthday parties. At dinners. All of the above.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

Pretty normal in the u.s. as well. Usually when there is a large family gathering like a wedding.

permalink
report
parent
reply
8 points

Unwinding after a shit week with a bottle of beer or glass of wine in the evening, with the extended family over for a meal, while kids play games. Tens of millions of Americans are doing this right now.

I don’t want to live in the America where that isn’t normal. That shit is wholesome.

permalink
report
parent
reply
6 points

I don’t want to live in the America where that isn’t normal.

Bad news! Vice squads are coming, no more fun for you!

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

I was born and raised in the states and I’ve never experienced this. There’s usually beer or wine for the adults who want it at every gathering. The one exception is maybe baptisms but only because the reception is usually in the church hall. Maybe it’s a southern thing? I’ve never been to the south and they do have some weirdly puritan social beliefs.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points
*

Yeah, I’ve seen it in the south and in Utah, both very religious, very odd areas.

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

I don’t know anyone in the US who feels this way.

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

As an American, I don’t know that I really see this too much. For Halloween, it’s not uncommon for some houses to give those little shooters to parents. Obviously it’s not good to get sloshed at a kid’s birthday party, but I don’t think too many people put too much weight on a drink or too. Either that, or I don’t put much weight on it, because I’ll have a social beer at noon on a weekday if it feels right.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

That is the way we had birthday parties too, and they are the best. Invite the whole family not just the kid. Nobody HAS to drink, and I didn’t because hosting, but it’s more hospitable to have adult beverages available. Often a “fancy drinks” area for the kids too, with colorful non alcoholic drinks and garnishes for them to create their own drinks.

So, so much better than a house full of kids all the same age. Kids running around in packs, adults chilling.

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points
*

My brother and others in the family will 100% get drunk around the kids. Nobody is giving kids alcohol nor drunk driving (we have family parties at the family vineyard usually so nobody is driving away)

permalink
report
parent
reply
4 points

My wife’s family will 100% get drunk around their kids, and drunk drive with the kids in the car. Seeing that first hand makes us really reluctant to drink at all.

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

Nobody is giving kids alcohol

When I was a kid I always asked for a taste when my parents had a drink with the meal. It was just a sip and I never liked it and it burned (it was usually a hard spirit), but I still asked every time.

When my wife was 5 she was being sent to the still to do a taste check and see if the brandy is strong enough yet.

permalink
report
parent
reply
1 point

exactly. That’s how I came.to hate beer! hahah Also wine is grape! that’s just nature. We don’t want drunk kids (can you imagine the caos?!) so we don’t let them drink but they have tasted and didn’t like it

permalink
report
parent
reply
2 points

I come from Germany and drinking around children is normal here, and it’s legal for children to start drinking at 14 years old.

However, just because it’s considered normal doesn’t mean it’s a good thing, alcohol gets played down way too much in our society, it’s one of the most dangerous and addictive drugs on the planet

permalink
report
parent
reply
3 points

Was always normal in my family. Smoking and drinking indoors all day. Used to come home smelling like shit. But there were alcoholics. Good people, though.

permalink
report
parent
reply

UK and Europe

You do realize the UK is part of Europe, right?

The britisch Isles are part of Europe.

permalink
report
parent
reply

Let’s have a trigger warning on that, please.

Cries in Brexit

permalink
report
parent
reply
10 points

The britisch Isles are part of Europe.

Not for the lack of trying!

permalink
report
parent
reply
7 points

Brits often refer to them like this. It’s a bit like a Californian saying “California and the USA” - it’s just a perspective thing. We know we’re part of the continent of Europe.

permalink
report
parent
reply

memes

!memes@lemmy.world

Create post

Community rules

1. Be civil

No trolling, bigotry or other insulting / annoying behaviour

2. No politics

This is non-politics community. For political memes please go to !politicalmemes@lemmy.world

3. No recent reposts

Check for reposts when posting a meme, you can only repost after 1 month

4. No bots

No bots without the express approval of the mods or the admins

5. No Spam/Ads

No advertisements or spam. This is an instance rule and the only way to live.

Sister communities

Community stats

  • 12K

    Monthly active users

  • 2.4K

    Posts

  • 41K

    Comments