Anonymous wrote:I drink once a month sometimes even less than that. My body metabolizes the alcohol in a way that one drink does not give me a buzz at all. It doesn’t matter if I haven’t drink in months. I also don’t get a buzz if I drink and eat. I need to get a couple of drinks in an empty stomach to feel happy.

Well, according to DCUM, if you drink alcohol in order to feel the effects of alcohol you’re an alcoholic. Sorry.

Also if you look forward to having a cocktail…alcoholic.

If you have a drink anywhere where children are present …. alcoholic.

I don’t know why people bother asking booze questions on this site.

No, he doesn’t do this but he drinks beer with tacos for lunch.

I'm a woman and do this. Don't want to pay $15 for a cocktail I could make at home. It also takes about 20 minutes to kick in so 2 drinks in the 30-40 minutes before hand. My husband drives so it doesn't matter & he doesn't drink.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Buzzed driving?

Why do people keeping posting this, when the whole premise of OP's post is that he DH *doesn't* get buzzed for an hour or so after a drink. That's why he pregames -- so the buzz will hit when he's at the restaurant.

P.S. Most people can drive just fine after one or two drinks.

Annnnnnnd all it would take is a 20-minute traffic delay to upend that plan? Annnnnnnnnnd I’m pretty sure we can all agree traffic is inevitable in this area.

“But, but your honor I timed it precisely so I would be buzzed at 7 p.m. when I arrived at the restaurant! I had no way of knowing there would be traffic in the DC area!”

I drink once a month sometimes even less than that. My body metabolizes the alcohol in a way that one drink does not give me a buzz at all. It doesn’t matter if I haven’t drink in months. I also don’t get a buzz if I drink and eat. I need to get a couple of drinks in an empty stomach to feel happy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, he's not cheap

Pre drinking has nothing to do with alcoholism or being cheap. If it takes 1-1.5 hours to feel a buzz, unless you’re planning to be at a long 2-4 hour dinner, you’re just guzzling pointless calories. You essentially pre drink at busy restaurants when you’re sent to the bar for 30-60 minutes before your table is ready. At neighborhood restaurants where you’re seated quickly, do that pre drinking at home.

What are you drinking that it takes you 90 minutes to get a buzz?

I don’t think that’s an abnormal amount of time. The point is whether it’s 45, 60 or 90 minutes to really feel that first cocktail of the night, you might be on your way out of the restaurant by then. Where as if you had a stiff cocktail or big glass of wine 60 or so minutes before getting to the restaurant, you’ve got a mild buzz when you’re first seated, then you remain in the socially lubricated zone with restaurant drinks or a bottle of wine.

Moderate drinker here. Once in a while having drinks before going out is not a big deal or problem. However, a friend of mine did this on the regular before social engagements and it turned out she had developed a serious alcohol problem.

The only men I knew who did this were alcoholics, but if you think you buy his explanation and that he doesn't have a problem, then maybe it is just science.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, he's not cheap

Pre drinking has nothing to do with alcoholism or being cheap. If it takes 1-1.5 hours to feel a buzz, unless you’re planning to be at a long 2-4 hour dinner, you’re just guzzling pointless calories. You essentially pre drink at busy restaurants when you’re sent to the bar for 30-60 minutes before your table is ready. At neighborhood restaurants where you’re seated quickly, do that pre drinking at home.

What are you drinking that it takes you 90 minutes to get a buzz?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is alcoholic behavior if you ask me.

- Alcoholic

Half the time he doesn't drink at all at restaurants, which I don't think is something an alcoholic does? He just doesn't see the point is wasting money or drinking so many empty calories if the buzz and social lubricant isn't going to be felt while we're at the restaurant.

New poster. While I don't necessarily think the behavior is alcoholic behavior, I do immediately wonder: Why are "buzz and social lubricant" necessary at all? Does he find it tedious or just harder to engage with others socially without "lubricant" at some point, during if not before and during? Ask yourself if this is about alcohol or about his not really wanting to engage, or alternatively, his possibly being fine and very social, but SO closely associating friends/socializing with alcohol that he doesn't always seem able to separate those things--?

You say "half the time he doesn't drink at all at restaurants" but do you mean, he doesn't drink AT restaurants half the time but does drink beforehand, those times? Not clear to me. Does it depend on what friends he's seeing? On how stressed he is otherwise, iike after a day at work?

OP, if you didnt' see some reason for concern, you wouldn't be asking about this here. So on some level, it concerns you. Ask yourself why. If it makes you uncomfortable then it's an issue for you and therefore an issue between you and him. I'd really wonder why "buzz" was something he felt he needed, or just wanted, to socilaize with people who supposedly are his friends anyway, whether he's buzzed and lubricated or not.

My husband will often have a drink before we go out and here’s a good reason why. Last night he skipped it and we went to a very nice restaurant and we had to wait at the bar for our table. He had a Tito’s on the rocks with very little Tito’s and they charged us $18. My glass of wine was $25. Crazy! By having a drink at home he skips the restaurant drink.

Standard operating procedure in college, drinks before going out to save money and to show up already feeling the buzz, plus we never left the house before ten anyway. Not so common once you get out of that phase.

I don't understand the question. OP doesn't seem to care at all about the quantity, just the timing? Who cares? Maybe his body is bigger and metabolizes differently.

Why does it take that long for the buzz to hit? That's the part that seems weird. But a drink beforehand doesn't seem too terribly weird if there are other times there's no drinking or limited drinking.

It does seem like an "all or nothing" proposition though.

Who doesn’t have a drink or two while getting ready for a night out on the town? You people are so freaking weird.