December 26, 2020

"All of a sudden, Ms. Duke, a vocal critic of 'mommy wine culture' and a member of the Sober Mom Squad, a virtual community created during the pandemic, was fielding questions..."

"... about alcohol from friends and acquaintances. Was two bottles of wine a night a bit over the top? How much was too much?... 'No one is talking about glasses of wine anymore,' said Ms. Duke, who works for a dog grooming app and lives in Manhattan with her two teenage sons. 'People are measuring by the bottle,' she continued. 'That scares me. I know too many women who went from one or two glasses to two bottles of wine to vodka in your coffee cup.'...  'Being inside all these months was extremely confining,' said [Natalie Silverstein, a marketing manager in media who lives in the East Village]. 'I needed something to relax. I looked forward to drinking because it broke the barrier.' For her, a glass of wine signaled the end of the day. Anxious, tired and stressed, it helped her sleep. It also helped her socialize and connect. 'In New York, drinking was an activity. In isolation it helped us gather,' she said. 'My team would do Zoom happy hours, and everyone had wine or a cocktail. That became habitual. It felt like drinking was the one thing holding us up.'"


Are you drinking more because of the pandemic?
 
pollcode.com free polls

ADDED: The linked article was published yesterday, Christmas, in the New York Times. On the same day, in the same newspaper, there is also this: "8 Things We Hated About New York Until 2020 Happened/New Yorkers are world-famous kvetchers. But when we got something real to complain about, we changed our tune." The 8th thing is "Drinking at 5 p.m":  
Hard-driving New Yorkers do not drink at an hour many consider the afternoon. Cocktails at 5 o’clock is for Cheever stories. In New York, the custom was to knock back later. If you were drinking at 5, it was probably at 5 in the morning, when you finished your shift. But the pandemic changed our sense of time, especially in the early days of winter and again now when the light fades so early.
AND: Here are the poll results:

110 comments:

Greg Hlatky said...

Normal people view the antics of TimesWomen as they would the monkey house at the zoo or a tour of 18th century Bedlam.

Lucien said...

I find the phrase "who works for a dog grooming app." delightful.

Birkel said...

I remember a commenter 10 months ago suggesting the psychological harm of lockdowns was a huge and unaccounted expense.
Wonder where that guy went.

*waves*

Here I am.

tim maguire said...

I don’t drink at all, so I’m not tapped in to this demographic, but these stories really have the feel of, the journalist’s friends are drinking more and they needed a story idea so they pitched it as “everybody’s drinking more.” That is, typical lazy bullshit from hacks published by crappy clickbait news outlets.

Kevin said...

Just when they thought they’d delegated all the unpleasant aspects of motherhood to a person, organization or machine, Covid-19 pulled them back in.

tim maguire said...

Lucien said...I find the phrase "who works for a dog grooming app." delightful.

I almost want to check it out just to see what kind of service a dog grooming app might provide and how it makes enough money to have an employee. Even money says it’s a hobby, not a job, and the bills are paid by her hedge-fund husband.

Mr Wibble said...

None of this is new. Years ago a writer from NYC wrote about how all the women in her wealthy neighborhood were drinking, taking drugs, and sleeping around.

Humans need work, hardship, and struggle to be happy. Boredom, ease, comfort... all of these are destructive to the soul when they become the norm. "Idle hands" and all that.

tim maguire said...

The 8th thing is "Drinking at 5 p.m":

While it’s true that people were not fleeing the office at the stroke of 5 for the bar on the ground floor, I never occurred to me, and I never heard anybody else either, complain that writers portray New Yorkers as having a drink at 5 pm. If it’s even a phenomenon, it wasn’t a thing anybody hated about New York.

Guimo said...

What about “I drink the same as before the pandemic.”

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I don't drink due to liver issues. I'd like to drink more. Miss a good cocktail.
I can drink - but It carries a lot of risk.

Tim Mc @ 6:53 nails it.

Fernandinande said...

the antics of TimesWomen

Timeswomen are real women. It's time to move past harmful debate.

Shouting Thomas said...

Don’t drink at all because rosacea. I also really miss drinking.

My only remaining vice in old age is smoking a little weed.

The government wants you to smoke weed now. I buy government weed in Massachusetts.

James K said...

The poll omitted the possible answer (which would have been my response): "No, and I drink moderately."

Quayle said...

COVID has been the great character revealer.

rhhardin said...

Don't drink and never have. I use decaf for something to do on a break.

rhhardin said...

You have to drink a lot of decaf to stay awake.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Not drinking much if at all since the beginning of the year. Due to health issues, which are now gone.(I hope) Drinking LESS since Covid because our drinking was mostly social.

Drinking for me consisted of one or two pre dinner cocktails a few times a week...Depending on what we are cooking/bbq-ing steaks. An occasional, like once a month, night out at a local cocktail bar with husband to visit with friends and eat hot wings, coconut shrimp, etc. snacks at the bar. Husband had already cut way down on his drinking due to diabetes. I stopped drinking totally in January because it didn't agree with me. Then was diagnosed and completely stopped. I'm told I can drink again if I want to....I really don't want to that much.

We toasted a few when my Father died in late Feb. Some wine with my Brother and SIL over July 4th. Some when we heard of husband's Mother's and Sister's death in June.... And last night two nice single malt cocktails before dinner.

I don't miss drinking like we used to do when we were young (way too much). I REALLY do miss the social interaction of going to the local watering hole once a month...or sitting with friends and having a beer on an afternoon visit.

Sitting at home and drinking alone is a bad sign!!!! Git a grip!!! Source: family alcoholics as "anti"-role models.

Probably this spring when the weather is nice we can be "social again". Looking forward to that glass of wine on the deck and a good book.

MayBee said...

We have someone staying with us through the pandemic who is sober, so in solidarity, we have not been drinking. It makes me realize a couple of things
1- I'm so glad we were here and our home was here for this person, because I can't imagine living alone during this pandemic if you are a newly sober person and all the AA meetings are shut down and the encouragement to drink is everywhere in society.

2- I'm glad I am not drinking during this pandemic (for the most part), because now that I haven't been drinking a glass of wine every night, I see how easy it is to have one glass as the end of the day and end up drinking a bottle starting more toward the afternoon.

3- I do think it is good for the wine mom culture to evaluate itself a little bit.

North Star said...

Come live in rural Florida. No lockdown here. Bars are hopping on the weekend. School is in person. Yesterday, Every 20th house or so had 5 -10 cars in the driveway/ street yesterday (multi household Christmas). Lots of vitamin d sunshine. Masks on in stores to be polite. Drinking two beers on beach days. So, no change in alcohol use.

Sebastian said...

"I know too many women who went from one or two glasses to two bottles of wine to vodka in your coffee cup."

Huh?

I guess, if you live in NYC, under DeBlasio, it figures.

Leland said...

There are so many things I rather do than sit in a teleconference to justify my social drinking habits.

If these people are not drinking a gallon of water a day, then 2 bottles of wine is too much. Give the liver and kidneys a break, because they’ll kill you just as dead as a virus.

campy said...

There's no poll answer that fits for me. I'm not drinking any more or less since the CCP virus hit; I drink more than "little or nothing," but I don't think I drink "more than I should."

stlcdr said...

The bad thing about drinking (more) during the COVID-crisis is getting the alcohol that you like. Explaining to the drive-thru guy what you exactly want can be tough. I took a photograph of the bottles and give it to them.

Drinking is only a problem when it is the activity.

Big Mike said...

Vodka in coffee!!! How vulgar! Everyone knows you flavor coffee with Irish whiskey, a little nutmeg, and a dollop of whip cream. Or you can substitute Kahlua for the whiskey and grated dark chocolate for the nutmeg.

But vodka??? [Makes retching sound.]

Howard said...

Greg Hlatky: Yes. I feel very sorry for apes in a zoo. Ripped out of their natural habitat to live in confinement with the other captured inmates. These overwrought city scribes are pitiful.

Howard said...

You got that right Big Mike. Vodka should only mixed with a coffee like substance in the classic White Russian cocktail.

Howard said...

I miss drinking Castle Lager on safari. You can drink it as primary hydration without the hint of a hangover and your sight alignment and sight picture remains rock steady throughout the day.

Tim DeRoche said...

The poll doesn't offer my answer....I still drink but have significantly reduced the amount during the pandemic.

Lucien said...

Big Mike: It's OK, she says vodka "in your coffee cup", meaning an opaque drinking vessel so that no one can see that you are drinking vodka. She doesn't actually suggest putting vodka in coffee, which, I agree, is an abomination unto the Lord.

holdfast said...

Total consumption is less now.

I’m more likely to have a glass of wine or a beer with dinner, because I’m at home.

But there are no boozy dinners or bar events with clients or friends. So alcohol more frequently, but less volume in the aggregate.

Rusty said...

BidenFamilyTaxPayerFundedCrackPipe said...
"don't drink due to liver issues. I'd like to drink more. Miss a good cocktail.
I can drink - but It carries a lot of risk."
Me too. But mine are medication issues.
Do I miss it? Hells yeah!
I'm not my usual ebullient, out going self. My normal cherub like demeanor has become quite dark.
Now fuck off.

Chick said...

Well I just don't get it. Isolation issues? C'mon Man. Lockdown or no lockdown, I leave the house everyday, that fifth of vodka ain't going to buy itself.

Roger Sweeny said...

It will be fascinating to see the statistics on alcohol sales when they are collated in the next few years. Is this a common problem or a NYT "our readers will find this interesting and we will pretend it is important"?

Mark said...

How much you want to bet that many of these same people who are self-medicating are also most militant about the lockdowns and social distancing, while having the greatest amount of pathological fear about the whole thing?

jim said...

Unfortunately, I had to answer "No, and drink little or nothing".

Michael K said...

If the asteroid arrives, it will be hard to choose between New York City and DC.

Mark said...

I do think that the government-forced idleness has probably led to a lot of people gaining substantial weight. People often eat when they have little else to do.

iowan2 said...

I leave the house everyday, that fifth of vodka ain't going to buy itself

When you start to buy 2 instead of one, incase you might run out, thats the sign you have a problem ;)

Temujin said...

New Yorkers seem utterly lost in this era. Whatever happened to New York? Anyone seen any old time New Yorkers around? Can you please ask them to come back out? Where are the Pete Hamill's of this generation? All we get is whiners writing articles in The New Yorker and NY Times. Whiners.

Seriously, it's time to remove New York from playing the Center of All Things Important. We've been carrying them and propping them the up for about 20 years now. Time to let the charade end.

John henry said...

I quit drinking completely in 84 so no effect on me.

Two things caught my eye

The dog grooming app

Not drinking at 5pm. I always thought 5pm was the accepted time to start drinking. "it's 5 o'clock somewhere" "the sun is over the yardarm" and so on.

5 o'clock marks the end of the work day and a logical starting time. Go to any bar at 5 o'clock before the scamdemic. The big about the manual worker drinking at 5am doesn't make sense at all except as condescension.

These poor, poor, women.

John Henry

Ryan said...

Drinking is degenerate.

wild chicken said...

I needed "Drinking but Less Than Before."

Stuff makes me feel sick now.

Sad.

traditionalguy said...

I Collected my usual Xmas gift in Tampa which is a quart of Korbel Brandy which is my favorite drink as it is of Wisconsin folks. It comes straight out of Guernyville on the Russian River in Sonoma. Their main product is Champagne, but Brandy is “distilled wine”, and Korbel’s is the best.

Alcohol is a drug. Dosage is always the issue. Don’t overdose!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Alcohol is expensive. Untold masses are stressed due to covid. Much of that stress is due to a lost job, lost income, lost business, over-worked parents who spend every waking moment juggling at-home kids and stay at home work, sun up to sun down day in a day out. to scratch the surface. We all need a drink but it's a luxury. I'd be interested to know if Alcohol sales are up, down or steady.

Where's the stimulus check for a nice bottle? oh right- our hard earned money goes to pay for some international diversity training. Priorities for Nancy and her family.

Who needs a drink?

Sam L. said...

I despise, detest, and totally distrust the NYT. The WaPoo, too.

Darrell said...

If the asteroid arrives, it will be hard to choose between New York City and DC.

A planet-killing asteroid would solve that problem.

Ann Althouse said...

"The poll omitted the possible answer (which would have been my response): "No, and I drink moderately.""

I consider that the first option. I can see that I should have written it a bit differently. I guess my belief is that drinking moderately is drinking little.

I don't think a woman of average size should be drinking more than 2 glasses of wine a day, and it would be a mistake to call that "little." It's "moderately" and probably too much, but you might not think it's too much. I should have had a place to register that position.

Maybe you think a woman who drinks a half bottle or more of wine is drinking moderately and not having a problem.

Anyway, my yes answers included an "okay with moderate drinking" option, so I missed the parallel.

Tom T. said...

The invisibility of any men in their lives has a very juvenile feel to it.

Biff said...

"Mommy wine culture" basically is the same thing as frat boy culture where guys speak more loudly than is necessary and let everyone know that "Dooood, I was soooooo f*d up last night!"

Kate said...

Please. We middle-aged women have been imbibing too much since forever. The covid allows us to be honest about it because we can blame something.

James K said...

“Maybe you think a woman who drinks a half bottle or more of wine is drinking moderately and not having a problem.”

?? Not sure where that comes from. There’s a wide range between “hardly at all” and “half a bottle” a day. Like 1-2 glasses a few times a week.

I have a couple glasses of wine with dinner 4-5 days a week, and an occasional shot of rye or scotch. I consider that moderate drinking for a healthy middle-aged male. The same before the pandemic as during it.

Earnest Prole said...

Alcohol makes a better servant than master.

Said Christopher Hitchens, a person who knew.

GingerBeer said...

"Here's to the ladies who lunch..." https://youtu.be/AesNShYs79g Hard-drinking upper-class NYC women is not a recent phenomenon. It's pretty much a default setting in search of an excuse.

Howard said...

I miss the old days when you were expected to drink at lunchtime with coworkers once per week. Hot wings and pitchers. Now people waste time instead being sober on social media.

Birkel said...

Mid-Atlantic Puritanism is never a good look.

Howard said...

Johnny Walker Black and Marlboros got Hitch in the end...

Alcohol+Cigarettes=Throat Cancer

Ann Althouse said...

“?? Not sure where that comes from. There’s a wide range between “hardly at all” and “half a bottle” a day. Like 1-2 glasses a few times a week. “

The latter would fit the first options in the poll. I was trying to say what the missing “no” option was.

Ann Althouse said...

One or two glasses of wine a day is what I used to drink, and I didn’t see it as a problem. These days that’s maybe what I would drink in a month.

traditionalguy said...

Once I had a college room mate from New York who often started eating and drinking down a quart of milk about 4:00PM every day. Finally he explained to me this was for the fifth of bourbon he planned to drink later that night. Made sense to me. Alcoholics plan ahead. Reminded me of my very sociable Grandmother Louise who sincerely said she was not an alcoholic because she could stop anytime she wanted to. She had just never wanted to. Both were hits of the party.

Joe Smith said...

Edibles.

Problem solved.

What do I win?

Lurker21 said...

One or two glasses of wine a day is what I used to drink, and I didn’t see it as a problem.

Depends on how big the glass is.

I'm drinking about the same, but eating more. If I go out, I'm fine, but around the house I eat something every couple of hours. And, heck, if this is our World War II or our Great Depression, why settle for eating only half a muffin?

mockturtle said...

Cooking more and eating more. Have gained three pounds already since summer. Will have work to do this spring.

Readering said...

My drinking habit not offered as option. Just right.

Lurker21 said...

The Drunk Mom Squad has all the fun.

Sober Mom sounds too much like Fragile Neurotic Mom or Dour, Fun-Hating, Life-Denying Mom.

PB said...

It just doesn't agree with me anymore. A half a beer for me is about it.

Laslo Spatula said...

MILFs vs. Karens, basically.

I am Laslo.

Gospace said...

I'm drinking more now then before. But not because of the covidiocy. Doctors have prescribed and recommended several types of painkillers for the ever present knee pain. Including oxycodone. They haven't recommended alcohol. Which is the painkiller that works. A large glass of wine after I get home before I lay down my head- and the knee pain isn't there. The oxycodone dulls the pain, doesn't kill it. I suppose if I took more it would- but alcohol is easier to obtain.

Narr said...

I voted #1 and am a bit surprised that so many others did too. I thought there would be a lot more drinking among this crowd.

Most of my friends and I spent the ages of 15 or so to 30 or so "binge" drinking--if Friday nights after work or school with gallons of beer and liquor count for anything; after one too many blackout episode, and in a physically wretched state, I went cold turkey and gradually eased back into occasional drinking over the next ten years or so.

I drank a lot, for me, on the luxury barge last year but always with ample hearty food to balance the wine and beer (after dark only).

The only booze I drink any more are Kahlua in coffee and sometimes a little Amaretto. In fact, my son gave me a bottle of the latter for Christmas, and it will last years. I go weeks and months without thinking about alcohol, and never drink much at a time--partly because of potential prescription drug interactions.

Narr
If weed was legal I'd drink even less.



Joe Smith said...

"MILFs vs. Karens, basically."

Go Team MILF!

: )

RigelDog said...

The poll would be improved by adding the option: I drink the same amount as pre-pandemic.

That's where I fall. The first option comes close to it, but (unnecessarily) adds the requirement that I drink little or not at all. I drink somewhere between a little, and moderately. Might not have a drink for a month; OTOH might have several occasions in a given month of social gatherings, holidays, or I'm just in the mood. Take me out dancing and I'm probably going to get a little wrecked.

RigelDog said...

Althouse said:
I don't think a woman of average size should be drinking more than 2 glasses of wine a day, and it would be a mistake to call that "little."

It gets more complicated IMO. If I drank one or two glasses of wine almost every day, I would think that I drank too much. But, given the right occasion, something social and active and jolly, several hours long, I may have lots of drinks--but those occasions aren't every day or even every week. On the third hand, when we went to Nashville for a week, I drank like that every night and it was great!

Joe Smith said...

"If weed was legal I'd drink even less."

Is it the illegality or the access?

Laslo Spatula said...

"Are you drinking more because of the pandemic?"

There is a question folded into this omelette: how are you directly affected by the pandemic?

Are you affected in the day-to-day finances?

Are you affected in savings?

Are you losing a business you spent your life building?

Are the people dependent on you hurt by your situation?

Have you lost a family member you weren't able to visit?

Are you mostly bored?

There are a LOT of triggers of varying weight under the pandemic umbrella.

Oh. And.

Are you Morlock or Eloi?

I am Laslo.

Rabel said...

Saw the poll results and ... it's some lying mofo's up in here.

Old and slow said...

I drink less now than pre-Covid, but still too much. On the other hand, I now run 50 - 60 miles per week.

Joe Smith said...

"On the other hand, I now run 50 - 60 miles per week."

At that pace, it seems like you could eat or drink whatever you want...

Kathryn51 said...

Ann Althouse said...
I don't think a woman of average size should be drinking more than 2 glasses of wine a day, and it would be a mistake to call that "little." It's "moderately" and probably too much, but you might not think it's too much. I should have had a place to register that position.

This is me and it's why I voted for #2. One glass while I fix dinner and one glass with dinner. It's "probably too much", but I haven't changed (that is, increased) since the pandemic.

Tyrone Slothrop said...

I've been on the wagon for 26 years, and I never miss it. I miss the taste and warmth of bourbon, but I emphatically do not miss being drunk.

It was "relaxing after work" that got to me, I was a new father, in a new job, and pretty happy with everything, but I kind of got bored with coming home every night, sitting on the couch and watching TV. Within three years I was putting away a fifth a night, first of bourbon, then of grocery-store vodka to save money.

I knew it had to stop or I would die, but my attempts at quitting resulted in sleepless nights, even in mild hallucinations which must have been delirium tremens. I hated the booze and I hated myself.

Finally a hospital stay unrelated to alcoholism gave me a chance to dry out. I still recall the worried look on my wife's face when the first thing I did on getting home from the hospital was to retrieve the bottle from the kitchen cabinet, but instead of pouring a drink I poured it down the kitchen sink. I've never looked back.

I've honestly never craved liquor since, never been tempted. I went to an AA meeting, but the smoke-filled, coffee-drenched meeting packed with backsliders didn't seem like a healthy milieu.

The point of airing all this baggage is the observation that it was boredom that got me. I wasn't in any physical or emotional pain that drinking helped me overcome, I was just bored. I can easily understand how the cooped-up and quarantined could succumb to habitual drinking. If this is you, be careful. I got out alive, but, cliches aside, the shit sneaks up on you. Be careful.

Earnest Prole said...

Depends on how big the glass is.

Say what you want about Amy Schumer: She's got Whitechicks pegged.

Clyde said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Clyde said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Clyde said...

I'm somewhere between the two No answers. I don't drink little to nothing, but I don't drink too much either. And right now, my go-to has been egg nog spiked with Crown Royal Salted Caramel, dusted with a little nutmeg.

tim maguire said...

Tyrone Slothrop said...I've been on the wagon for 26 years, and I never miss it. I miss the taste and warmth of bourbon, but I emphatically do not miss being drunk.

I miss a beer and a cigarette on a hot sunny day. My best days were in Florida, but today I live in Canada, so I'm missing all 3 of them.

Rt41Rebel said...

@Gospace, I had a similar experience when I injured my back a decade ago. Nothing prescribed for the pain worked, the only time of the day that the pain diminished was in the evening after several beers.

The Godfather said...

Remember the old story about the NY ad agency boss who told his execs: I've got no problem with your drinking on your lunch hours, but drink whiskey not vodka, so the afternoon clients can smell it on your breath and know that you're drunk, not stupid.

The Godfather said...

BTW your poll doesn't provide for people who drink, but no more or less because of the pandemic: i.e., normal people.

jeremyabrams said...

A handful of phone calls to local bottle shops would have provided some factual basis beyond the journalist and her friends.

Josephbleau said...

You fools, don't you know that millions are not going to their doctors because they are told not to. Cancers are growing. Diabetes is going un-diagnosed. rememer Cui Bono.

Josephbleau said...

health care costs are dropping, cui bono

DEEBEE said...

Missing is “No, I drink moderately, sometimes in excess — as before”. But then that would normalize the strong flu we have had this year.

Narr said...

@Joe123pm-- embrace the power of AND.

Drinking much, alone, is a red line for me; my wife has become a real Scotch whisky connysewer and got a Glenmorangie sampler from son for Christmas. I can't stand the stuff, so she's welcome to it. I like alcohcandy I guess.

Reefer, on the other hand. She never liked it much, but I'd druther, and alone's not a deal breaker.

Narr
She needs to worry about Rx & booze interactions more than I do, anyway

DavidUW said...

After about a month, I stopped drinking during weekdays.

Get some discipline.

As I've stated before, if you're working from home, at a minimum, do some form of exercise during your commute time and don't drink during the week.

Ann Althouse said...

The no answer includes drinking less. The question is are you drinking more.

Joe Smith said...

"Reefer, on the other hand. She never liked it much, but I'd druther, and alone's not a deal breaker."

If wifey doesn't mind then the illegality is trivial...seriously, nobody cares unless you live in Saudi Arabia.

As for access, the state stuff will be (so I've been told) not as good as a grower who grows for themselves and friends.

At least that's how it is in California...

Bunkypotatohead said...

What do tne children think of their drunk mommies?

Unknown said...

Since the beginning of human history, man has wanted to change his emotional state in this world. Man has always wanted to...go...somewhere else. Beer? Khat? Fermented berries? MJ? Something.

Why is that, do you suppose? Mmmm...a glass of wine.

Whiskey, meth, heroin....mmmm...take me away. From what?

What do we want to be taken away from?

Narr said...

"What do we want to be taken away from?"

What you got?

But seriously, you recognize yourself that there's a "to" and not just a "from" with the quest for altered states, across times and cultures. And it's not just a human pursuit either.

And I'm not sure "emotional" is a full and rich enough description of the state sought, but maybe that's just me.

Narr
(Pssst, Joe, wink wink)

Unknown said...

So tell me demon, if not 'emotional', what? Describe it fuller and richer.

stlcdr said...

Regarding 5pm: I’ve found that the best time to go to Lowe’s on a weekday. Seems pretty empty.

Steve Pitment said...

I decided in early March that vice and whatever this lockdown thing was would not mix well, especially if trying to be productive while working at home. No booze, weed, or even an aspirin since. I am looking forward to a celebratory beer at a ballgame or something whenever the time comes.

Steve Pitment said...

I decided in early March that vice and whatever this lockdown thing was would not mix well, especially if trying to be productive while working at home. No booze, weed, or even an aspirin since. I am looking forward to a celebratory beer at a ballgame or something whenever the time comes.

Steve Pitment said...

Lurker 21 said: " I eat something every couple of hours. And, heck, if this is our World War II or our Great Depression"

Try intermittent fasting. Only eat during a designated 7 or 8 hour period evert day - say between noon and 7 pm. It is so much easier to eat no chips at bed time than to eat a few.

Narr said...

Hercules, some people seek the altered state as a matter of emotional need, certainly, but it seems to me that for others it's not seeking emotion but emotionlessness, or mental clarity, or any number of other things besides emotion that drives or pulls people toward those states.

Demon, huh?

Narr
I'm flattered

Paul Simpson said...

I've been using the hashtag #LockDownsKill since, oh, April? 2020. Even the UK's NHS said in the spring that the cost of lockdowns was greater than the (alleged) benefit. It'll be more apparent over time. But the goalposts keep moving, and may never stop.

Assistant Village Idiot said...

More people arguing from anecdotes. So many people just sure that lockdowns are going to increase suicides, drug and alcohol addiction, domestic and child abuse, depersonalisation among children not at school, poor educational outcomes, and plagues o'er the earth.

Come with numbers or pipe down. We knew in February that a) everyone was going to perceive that things were going just as they predicted, because of confirmation bias; b) the first pass of numbers would be incomplete and everyone would cherry-pick the data that supported their preconceived ideas; c) the reflexive responses to that would be off-topic but increasingly irate, and d) 90% of people would just resort to priors and be unmoved by any data.

Opinion pieces in the NYT are never a refreshing respite from this by the intelligent people of the country but a mere variation of this process played out among a particular cultural group.

Come with numbers or pipe down.

Unknown said...

Narr- 'I'm flattered'

Knew you would be. Perhaps you're thinking about a Castaneda kind of experience. What 'drives or pulls' people toward those states'. Emotion is the most easily manipulated of the passions of the body.

Is it Mushrooms, or Psilocybin that reveals the illusion? Or does it merely paint the illusion in technicolor dreams.

Impatience creates the prison cell.

Impatience is simply the lack of God's grace.

Scalito said...

I am calling bullshit on this story as an alcoholic who never would've admitted to anyone---not my wife, best friend or confessor---that I drank two bottles of wine a night. And I did! Drnk two bottles a night, that is, until my recovery.

Anyone who drinks like that knows it's a problem. I knew it was an issue when I regulalry drank a bottle of wine. Most people don't do that, and it isn't hard to weedle that out from your friends (if you're concerned enough to compare) without admitting your personal consumption rate.

Narr said...

Why are you asking me, Hercules?

You already know the truth; I'm just reporting on my empirical and vicarious experiences. I've never done 'shrooms (not that kind) or any other hallucinogen, and Castaneda never made much sense to me (I've said so here), and it's not my business to judge or justify something that seems perfectly. . . human to me.

I agree that impatience creates prison cells, especially the impatience of those who already know all the answers.

Narr
Updike: Doubt may make you wonder about the meat on your plate, but it's certainty that pulls triggers.

Unknown said...

Narr-Why are you asking me, Hercules?

Did not ask you anything? The question is in your own mind, perhaps.

Narr said...

Sorry, I read "Is it Mushrooms etc?" as a question. I'll be more careful in the future.

Narr
My mind is full of questions, yes