Before the pandemic, I was watching Drag Race at the gay bar and a not-so-gay bar, so yes.
this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2025
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Some of the older old dudes I've worked with used to. I actually convinced one of the avocado toast whiners he was wrong based on bar cost now and back in his day
Still is common, most bars have their regulars
Yep, been a while since worked at a place like that, but there was definitely a crowed that would be there most days. This was mid 2000’s. Partly dried up when smoking indoors was banned, I think that was the last straw for a big part of the culture that was already drying up.
Yeah. Few times a week I go to mine to chat with all the locals over two or three beers then head home. It's a nice way to wind down, be out, and socialise at a really low intensity. No organising is needed, just arrive and there'll be someone there you know.
That was kind of the point of pubs (public house). A place for the community to meet up in any weather and have a good time together whether games, sharing stories, or having a meal. The smaller the town, the friendlier and more tight the patrons are too. Also great places to frequent when travelling, meeting new locals, getting great travel advice, making friends for the few days you're there.
Idk how common it was but it's a good example of a "third place". A spot that isn't work or home where you can meet and socialize
I wish we could have third places that don’t involve fucking up your body.
Even with NA (low/non-alcoholic) beverages, it'd be nice to have third places that don't come with an obligation to spend money.
To be clear, I'm not asking for places that ban spending money, but there are third places like parks (eg NYC Central Park) that are destinations in their own right, but one can also spend money there, such as buying stuff and having a picnic on the grass, or bringing board games and meeting up with friends. Or strolling the grounds astride rental e-bikes. Or free yoga.
Where there's an open space, people make use of it. But we don't really have much of that in the USA, that isn't tied up as a parking lot, an open-space preserve (where people shouldn't tred upon to protect wildlife), or are beyond reasonable distances (eg BLM land in the middle of Nevada).
Parks and libraries are really nice. Most other third places seem to want you to spend money, that's my experience here in northern Europe anyway.
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It used to be the Mall. It was always a place to hang out, meet friends, window shop, eat, see a movie, etc.
When I was a kid, the local mall even included the local library. I thought that was a great idea, but I never saw another mall with a library.
Public libraries are great third places. Larger ones often have classes, groups, and social clubs. And you'll meet like-minded people just by becoming a regular.
Hacker/makerspace.Coffee/tea shops. Library. Community Center.
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Yes, and it's still pretty common.
Yeah, I used to finish work, walk down to my local pub, have dinner and a few drinks then go home to bed, good meals, good people to talk to, I kinda miss it but I don't drink anymore.
Umm, I'm in my 40s and I do... 😬
Granted it isn't like Cheers, I just need the change of scenery since I work from home 10-20 hours a day.
I work from home 10-20 hours a day.
That's fair. Drinking at one's workplace is usually frowned upon.
usually, upper management go for their hour and a half long lunches and come back blitzed is not uncommon, at least in the workplaces I’ve been.
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I’m an outlier because I live in a walkable neighborhood in a city. But I have 10 breweries within walking distance around my house. I know the owners by name for 2 of these breweries and the bartenders know me for 4 of them. I think they all know my dog.
I usually go with my wife and/or girlfriend about 2-4 days a week, but it’s still very much a hang out.
We’re also Friday regulars to a semi-close bar every Friday because I won a free beer/week for a year in a $25 raffle!
I usually go with my wife and/or girlfriend
Ok, sorry. I just wanted to post that finally. Also, I was remembering that one clip that always gets put in compilations about that guy and his wife and her bf. Anyway, carry on.
Being polyam in Seattle is great. All of my coworkers know I’m poly and just accept it. All the bartenders know too. Makes it easy for them to start the tab.
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You have a wife and a girlfriend AND you can afford to go to a bar every night? Must be nice to be in the 1%! 😉
If they all have jobs, they can split fixed costs liking housing or a shared car across 3 people instead of 2. Or more - the OC only mentioned a wide and gf, but there could be more people in the polycule.
Tech jobs in Seattle go crazy! We make ends meet since we all have some kinda job. Not too crazy since we’re still renting. But eventually we want to be permanent in. Seattle!
You want to Settle in Seattle? 😸
With a wife and an and/or-girlfriend I don’t think he’s settling at all..!
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It still is. There's bars like that in every town.
I live in a tiny NE college town where that happens but for breakfast at a dive coffeeshop. It's loud, packed, the food and coffee are meh, but every single day I can walk in there and see 5-10 locals eating breakfast and shooting the breeze. There's cliques who always sit together, and social butterflies who pick a different group every morning. A bottomless mug of coffee is $3, so folks will just come and hang out from like 8-11am. It's great fun.
There's a brewery next door that's often busy at night but generally it's a quiet town so folks are home chilling after dinner.
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Yes, my dad was one of them. I haven't gone to a bar for years but it used to be most smaller bars had at least a few regulars that basically lived there. I remember one old vet that used to show up every day as soon as the bar would open for his daily fix... It got to the point the bar refused to serve him, so he would try and get unsuspecting customers to buy them for him. (This was in the 70's and 80's, there were (or at least seemed to be) a lot more alcoholics back then.)
Also booze used to be a LOT cheaper, so it wasn't nearly as expensive as it would be now.
I remember stories from my dad about a guy he knew where the bar maid would have to help him with the first drink in the morning because his hands would shake so much.
The romantic history of the happy drunk is almost entirely fictional. I say almost because I know a few people who are able to take it or leave it, but for the most part the people I know/knew who were drinking either in bunches or daily end up complete and unabridged alcoholics, whether they are active and in serious trouble or have sought help and straightened up, but cannot touch it.
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Did this (Mon-Sat) together with a few friends and colleagues in my late 20s. We were regulars to the point of the cook always making something off menu more fitting for regular dinner, as well as no need to settle the bill every night. Once a month everything was tallied up.
Good times. Had to stop though since I found myself going through the fridge on a Sunday once looking for some alcohol.
edit: This was the tail end of the 90s btw, small town in Sweden
Had to stop though since I found myself going through the fridge on a Sunday once looking for some alcohol.
I had a similar experience except I'd open the fridge before work and instinctively grab a beer or start to grab one before I realized I was just there for creamer.
It's fairly common right now, too.
How can anyone afford to go to bars anymore? Drinking at home is much cheaper.
Gotta find the dive bars with the specials on shitty liquor and beer
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