Comments on: "Pre-gaming" leads to riskier behavior and more alcohol consumption, groundbreaking study finds

By: cdh1971

cdh1971 — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 04:44:00 +0000

When I was in college at the U of Oregon we called it “pre-loading.” Our pocket and hip flasks we called “Practicing Due-Diligence.”

I noticed at least one person above used the same term. Perhaps this is a regional or generational thing? Both?

This link is a very good tutorial on how to conceal signs of alcohol use in your FaceBook pictures:

http://www.standardmadness.com/how-to-properly-conceal-alcohol-in-your-facebook-pictures/

By: ocker3

ocker3 — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 12:22:00 +0000

Are you implying different rates/amounts of consumption or are you actually trying to say that non-westerners don’t black out when they drink a lot? Your argument would be more powerful with that cleared up.

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 11:12:00 +0000

You may not be particularly cute, but I thought you had a nice boyish charm (for an old guy) when we met ;)

By: penguinchris

penguinchris — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 11:09:00 +0000

I’m an introvert and have asperger’s. So I thought I’d give my perspective since it closely follows your question.

I didn’t drink a drop until I was about 22 (didn’t drink at all in college, was in grad school at the time). Didn’t really like it, though I tried. I still detest the taste of alcohol, but I learned to drink in Thailand, in the middle of the jungle, with a professor and grad student from a Thai university. They drank hard, and always cheap fire-water Thai whiskey, and eventually I got it – it was actually pleasurable. It helped that they were really cool guys, such that I actually enjoyed losing my introvert inhibitions and was able to talk and interact with them more freely than I normally might.

Later, I drank at parties (I didn’t really go to any parties in college and have only been to a few since, but…). I am terrible at parties and find it difficult to talk to people – even (or especially) family parties. Having a couple of drinks helps immensely – though others probably don’t notice and assume I haven’t been drinking at all, since the externally visible effect is slight even when I’m almost wasted. Still, I can at least pretend to be mildly sociable at parties after a couple of drinks.

I avoid clubbing, but in the past year or so was brought along to clubs (in downtown LA and in Vegas) a couple times. It’s intolerable – until you’ve had at least a couple drinks, at which point it’s actually rather enjoyable (assuming you have a girlfriend there, or someone else willing to dance with you). Having that couple of drinks ahead of time (pregaming) makes the whole thing less intolerable from the start, and easier to handle.

All that said, I don’t drink for general pleasure. I usually have some decent beer in the fridge and try drinking it casually sometimes, but it doesn’t really do anything for me. But in social situations – which normally are extremely difficult for me for the reasons stated in the first sentence – it is an immense help.

By: Andrew Gray

Andrew Gray — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 01:36:00 +0000

“Pre-gaming didn’t have a name when I was their age”

When I was in college (in 1981) it was called “pre-functioning” (presumably as parties, especially frat parties, were often referred to as ‘functions’).

By: Donald Petersen

Donald Petersen — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 00:23:00 +0000

That surprises me too. I’ve never been drunk (no real moral objection, just can’t stand the taste of alcohol), but the pressure on me to have a drink or get drunk was always nominal at most. I guess that depends on one’s social circle or one’s susceptibility to peer pressure or the cultural pressure presented by TV shows, movies, and advertising, but nobody’s ever really made a serious effort to convince me that I’d be having a lot more fun with an alcoholic beverage or three inside me.

Then again, even the shy, introverted, collegiate Donald of the late 80s and early 90s didn’t really get invited to parties. So maybe that explains the lack of pressure.

Also, I was a guy. And not a particularly cute one at that. I have to think that women get pressured an awful lot to imbibe in situations where they might not want to.

By: alphagirl

alphagirl — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:59:00 +0000

I never found pre-partying to be an effective way to save money, since the amount I drink when out is more a constant product of quantity over time rather than “get to a certain buzz then stop.” Actually, it tended to have the opposite effect, since past a certain intoxication level, you tend to drink more just because you are drunk. Alcohol begets alcohol.

By: Bryce Caron

Bryce Caron — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:08:00 +0000

Fort Sanders FTW. Red House parties on Highland fueled with plasma money…

By: B. Peasant

B. Peasant — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:55:00 +0000

Well, I’m an introvert who enjoys drinking and loud music. Pouring down the beer while a black metal band is trying to blow the roof off the building is pure bliss for me.

By: Ito Kagehisa

Ito Kagehisa — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:52:00 +0000

We called it “prep firing” (a paperboard wargame reference young whipperschnappers are unlikely to know) or “preparing to prepare” – the idea behind that one was you caught a little buzz before you dressed to go out for the evening, which of course resulted in exactly the sort of clothing choices that made the 1970s famous (notorious?).

By: Florian Braun

Florian Braun — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:45:00 +0000

Exactly, the point of pregaming is to consume a lot of alcohol without going broke, So unsurprisingly those people more interested in getting drunk get more drunk and therefore do all the stupid dangerous things associated with it….

By: calvinnbs

calvinnbs — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:30:00 +0000

Do the authors of the study stop to consider that the people who pre-game would most likely drink more regardless? If they, god forbid, didn’t have any booze at home, would those same people have 7 drinks in a night at the bar? Most likely yes. And if there was a power outage and the bars were closed, are these the same people who would have 7 drinks with friends at home? I can’t stand these studies that don’t consider anything other than the hypothesis their trying to prove.

By: Ben Gruagach

Ben Gruagach — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 20:03:00 +0000

I went to university in Ontario Canada in the 1980s and they called pre-game drinking parties “warmups.”

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:53:00 +0000

“the group I hung with” (didn’t overdo it) <— Missing out -is not better than- (<) overdoing it.

Are you drunk? You clearly said overdoing it is greater than missing out, while expressing disdain for OP's group.

By: Marja Erwin

Marja Erwin — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:47:00 +0000

I never understood that either. I wonder if it correlates with personality differences, so that extroverts enjoy this while introverts don’t, or allistics do while autistics don’t, or something similar. But I wish there wasn’t so much pressure on us non-drinkers to start drinking, on introverted people to go to busy parties full of strangers, on sense-sensitive people to go to busy clubs full of bright lights and loud noises, etc.

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:47:00 +0000

Don’t sweat it, I don’t drink anymore but was always a huge fan of getting buzzed instead of drunk when I did and agree 100%

By: MonkeyBoy

MonkeyBoy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:33:00 +0000

It sounds like you are trying to hide behind false modesty to not mention going to Princeton where they have "eating clubs".

By: wreckrob8

wreckrob8 — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:31:00 +0000

The no was misplaced – trying to respond to two comments at once – I think. I realised that almost as soon as I had posted my comment, trying not to get caught at work.
There are different physiological reactions among literate societies. Many non-Western literate societies do not suffer from blackouts, hangovers and other adverse effects from the ‘excessive’ consumption of alcohol.
In many respects the Western reaction to alcohol is more akin to that of illiterate societies.
Alcohol use does not need to lead to loss of control. Depending on who you drink with and where and when you drink or spend time drunk loss of control can be either beneficial or detrimental. Can you have those who benefit from loss of control without those who suffer?
What is the ‘right’ cultural reaction to alcohol?

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:25:00 +0000

Calling it ‘pre-’ anything kind of seems lame. When I went to university in Newfoundland, we called it “Getting ‘Primed’”. e.g. “We’re gettin’ primed over at Darren’s place, then heading down to the Duke (of Duckworth) to meet up with the rest of the b’ys”.I think that’s a much better term.

By: Trefunk

Trefunk — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:24:00 +0000

But I don’t want anyone do overdo anything. Reading comprehension? Drunk?

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:18:00 +0000

You’re the one who began from either missing out or overdoing it. “/cringe/Missing out isn’t better than overdoing it.”

The OP notes that there was chemical assistance btw, and your shuddering at the thought of socializing with people that don’t overdo it is just odd.

By: noah django

noah django — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:15:00 +0000

donate. receive $30. exit Plasma Alliance. cross street. enter store. six pack of Mickey’s Hand Grenades. show and/or house party to follow. So. Many. Times.

Fort Sanders in the 90′s would provide.

By: B. Peasant

B. Peasant — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 19:13:00 +0000

Same thing in Norway. Drinking at a bar is hideously expensive, so there’s the “vorspiel” (we actually use the German word! Similarly, the afterparty is a “nachspiel”).

I don’t need the vorspiel to get shitfaced, though…

By: Lupus_Yonderboy

Lupus_Yonderboy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:53:00 +0000

Psht. Sounds like I’m never tailgating with you. Booooring!

By: Tom

Tom — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:43:00 +0000

We called it “pre-partying”. A couple beers while we watched Seinfield, then zip over to the bar for a $2 pitcher (per person of course) of crappy domestic before the special ended at 10p. Then we nursed a few drinks while we hit on anything wearing a skirt, went home alone and passed out. God, I miss college.

By: Trefunk

Trefunk — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:42:00 +0000

Getting “shit-faced” is overdoing it, though. That black or white mentality – either getting hopelessly drunk or hanging around with your silly /shudder/ friends, is a sure recipe for missing out on life.

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:39:00 +0000

That’s a fact, even though the function of Captain Obvious is now overwhelmingly about saving someone from the lawyers than it is saving those lives.

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:36:00 +0000

/cringe/ Not getting shit-faced on alcohol isn’t necessarily missing out on anything.

By: Funk Daddy

Funk Daddy — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:33:00 +0000

Responses to the physical effects of alcohol are culturally determined.

Not all releases of inhibition are sex and violence and what on earth, is there a lot of “pre-loading” as discussed here outside the west, because I missed that part of the discussion. Where does the “No” fit in to your post?

By: Festus

Festus — Fri, 09 Nov 2012 18:29:00 +0000

Some real tragedies result.

http://www.technicianonline.com/news/a-tragic-tailgating-shooting-prisoners-perspectives-1.2756031