Tacky Tacky
Going to a party and bringing a bottle -- but not an unopened bottle of wine, but a half-filled water bottle with Jack Daniels in it.
I went to a fantastic party this weekend, with lots of really interesting people attending, and a full table of food, and I overheard one girl saying to a friend of mine, "I didn't want to bring the whole bottle of Jack, so I brought just enough" (to mix her own drinks, period).
Anybody else experience some ugly this weekend?
Not to make excuses for her selfish behavior, but the girl with the personal supply of Jack Daniels is probably an alcoholic, and she should get some help. Her behavior was more than rude. It was abnormal.
Lena at July 3, 2006 9:53 AM
I wouldn't say she's an alcoholic. Just somebody who never got past college frat party etiquette. While bringing a half-full water bottle of Jack is perfectly acceptable among the BYOB university crowd, it's something most grown-ups have gotten past.
As for me, our Canada Day celebration were tarnished when the drunks at the neighbouring table kept heckling pedestrians. What is it with some people and alcohol? Personally, I think it's a side effect of modern puritanism (bare with me on this one). When kids grow up learning to drink (a glass of wine with dinner, for instance), they don't behave like jerks when they drink. It's only when alcohol is restricted to some magical age that people treat it like a license for idiocy.
Andrew at July 3, 2006 12:43 PM
"I wouldn't say she's an alcoholic. Just somebody who never got past college frat party etiquette."
So I guess re-reading a few chapters of Emily Post's "Party Etiquette for Girls" should straighten her out.
"When kids grow up learning to drink (a glass of wine with dinner, for instance), they don't behave like jerks when they drink."
But not if they grew up drinking White Zinfandel.
Lena at July 3, 2006 1:21 PM
But not if they grew up drinking White Zinfandel.
Or Gallo Hearty Burgundy.
deja pseu at July 3, 2006 1:46 PM
what woman drinks jack?
a bottle of behringer white zin costs about $6 and will get one appreciably drunk without too much pain the next morning. cheapest buzz i know of and you even seem somewhat sophisticated. better than jack out of a water bottle anyway.
g*mart at July 3, 2006 7:57 PM
I actually have to ask what sort of difference it makes. I belong to that BYOB University crowd, and having the images of drunken people in that crowd fresh in my mind, as well as an "adult" (whatever that means) party, all I can tell is that it doesn't matter your drunk on, you just end up being drunk the same way. The end result, which is the entire point of alcohol, so far as I can see, doesn't depend on the beverage of choice. Some just get yout here faster, or have different side affects.
I champion the girl with the water bottle carrying Jack Daniels. She's getting drunk; or sloshed, blitzed, mindblasted, aced, hosed, whatever. Doesn't matter if its Jack Daniels or White Zin.
Scott at July 3, 2006 8:44 PM
Um, Scott, it isn't what you're "drunk on"; when you go to a party it's considered good manners to bring something, and not just your personal stash. Didn't everyone's mother teach them that?
I have just as big a problem with people who buy cheap wine for their friends. If they're truly your friends, don't you care if they feel like crap the next day?
Amy Alkon at July 3, 2006 11:20 PM
The end result, which is the entire point of alcohol, so far as I can see, doesn't depend on the beverage of choice.
I would dispute this. Different types of booze produce different types of buzzes, in me anyway.
Vodka takes effect quicker, wears off sooner, and induces gas pains. Beer takes forever, and unless I actually pass out from it, I will not sleep well afterwards. Red wine is heavily dehydrating in large quantities; white is acidic. Gin gives the nastiest headaches. Good whiskey is the most reliable good buzz.
Your buzzes may vary, but all are not created equal.
LYT at July 4, 2006 12:45 AM
I find bringing individual crack pipes is considered thoughtful and is always most appreciated by hosts and guest alike.
Mao See Tung at July 4, 2006 2:41 AM
Andrew writes: "bare with me on this one."
You want us to get naked with you?
Patrick at July 4, 2006 12:12 PM
Let's all get naked!
eric at July 4, 2006 12:42 PM
"it's considered good manners to bring something, and not just your personal stash. Didn't everyone's mother teach them that?"
We're not talking about a girl who wouldn't share her chocolate chip cookies. Again, I'm not trying to make excuses for her, but I think there's a lot more going on than bad manners.
Lena at July 4, 2006 1:27 PM
Never cared about manners anyways, because they never gave me a real mark of the persons character. Moreover, I don't really care what your mother taught you; there's no such thing as a universal code of ethics. I feel a lot of fuss is being made over a very small subject. Who are you to judge one wether or not she's a good person, or a rude person, etc., by exactly how she carries her libation?
Scott at July 5, 2006 12:21 AM
Oh, but they absolutely do. I brought my friend Claudia to the party, and I told her I'd bought a lovely bottle of wine, so she didn't need to bring anything. She said she couldn't go to a party and not bring something; ie, the person's putting themself out, and it's the nice thing to do to recognize that by helping out or bringing them a little present. Your "take, take, take" philosophy is ugly. I see it at a monthly dinner I go to, thrown by a TV showrunner. A few cheap people figure, "He's rich, I'll leave without paying for my drinks and dinner." Very creepy. The rest of us leave him $40 to make up for the creepy cheapskates and to pay for ours, so he won't be left with a bill of hundreds of dollars at the end of the night. And there is a universal code of ethics -- that goes back millions of years. Read up on "reciprocal altruism" and "cheater detection" (by "cheaters," I mean people taking more than their fair share). I created a successful campaign against SUVs based on that principle, which was lauded in Jerome Barkow's recent book on evolutionary psychology as successful evolutionary psychology in action.
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2006 7:13 AM
Tell us more about this:
"I created a successful campaign against SUVs based on that principle, which was lauded in Jerome Barkow's recent book on evolutionary psychology as successful evolutionary psychology in action."
Lena at July 5, 2006 12:45 PM
Regarding Barkow, that's one of the many things I have to blog about. Not only am I mentioned in the book (for a few pages, and a footnote!) I'm in a review of the book. I photo'd the pages I'm in...have to clean them up and blog them along with Satoshi's review of it.
Amy Alkon at July 5, 2006 3:53 PM
That's fantastic, Amy. I imagine we'll be seeing you in more book reviews in the future, too.
Lena at July 5, 2006 5:43 PM
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