When do/did you stop partying?

For me and my group of friends, it was around when we turned 25-26. We still go out after work and be social, but we really only go our for a major bender about once a year now. To be honest, I really don't miss it. For the record, I'm 36 and fairly successful as well.

I'm 31, married, with a house and a good career. I've been incredibly lucky in that I've hung around with a big bunch of friends for about 18 years - there's maybe 20 in my immediate circle, 40 in the extended circle and we've all grown up together, spent summers away together, years away, etc etc. Its been amazing. Now, however, everyone is 31/32 bar a couple of exceptions, a large number are married, and there's a number of babies in the picture - either born, or on the way. Things have changed hugely - particularly in the last say...3 years. It used to be a given that we'd meet and go on the total piss Friday/Saturday every single week. Not anymore. It just kind of starts to peter out - thing is you don't mind, when you get there. If you'd told me at 25 that I would end up preferring a movie with my wife than a session on the booze with all my mates, I would've asked you to quietly kill me. But now, I'm glad I'm not 25 anymore. Life is great. I find it amazing that everyone seems to progress at around the same pace, and in the same way - I can't do hangovers any more (they get exponentially worse) so I don't find myself getting arseholed at the weekends like I used to. I love doing things at the weekends - rather than lying around waiting for the hangover to away, we actually do stuff. So, to answer your question, you're at the 'starting to notice it ain't the same anymore' phase. Which is just....life.

I got married at age 26. I was done partying the same year.

Now the only time I ever get semi-sloshed is drinking at corporate events. I try to stay semi-sober. I find the idea of "drinking" being a form of "networking" quite disturbing. And yet that seems to be the reality of the pharmaceutical industry.

It's a little repulsive watching old business farts/sales reps drunk out of their minds. I'm glad I quit partying then.

You don't have to quit partying, just tone it down. It is possible to buy a six pack and not a keg, you know.

This seems like a good place for the question: can someone tell me at what point "partying" came to mean "drinking?" I've never equated the two, and yet whenever I hear someone talk about having a party or going to one, it's always booze. Is it just unfashionable to have a party without getting drunk? Or should I call it a get-together? A shindig?

I've been grappling with this issue recently as well. I'm 25 and married, my friends are in that same ballpark. I've had the urge to get out a lot more lately, when time actually permits. I like going clubbin' every once in a while. They don't mostly. They are more into the 6 pack and gamecube/dvd model at the moment.

I think I'm going to find some college kids (chicks) to hang out with so I can actually go partying more.

I'm the first of the gang to get married (soon), just bought a house, and so on. So while the rest of them are still on party mode, we still go out, but our clubbing day are quite over. If I go out clubbing 4 times a year it's already enough.

I'm similiar to Phil Connors up there... kinda... I have the same amount of friends, and they are all slowly getting married and kids are there or are coming soon... or are being planned. But, I'm 25 with not even a girlfriend. I live alone and don't have any friends where I finally moved to after graduating from college. For me, I still enjoy getting fucked up almost everyday... the friends I have that similiar to me are gearing up towards the family lifestyle. It's kind of a rough time for me in all honesty. I want something similiar to happen... envious.

Shut yer hole, mangina.

That's actually a good point. In NYC, if someone asks you if you "party", s/he is asking if you do hard drugs.

If that question gets seriously addressed, this might turn into People who don't drink... part 2.

Stop? Why would anyone stop?

I did slow down though. No more than 1 fifth of scotch a day, unless it's the weekend.

I've only drank two out of the three nights of this week. And shit, just realized I'm going to an open bar tonight (are there two greater words in the english language? I submit that there are not.) And then of course friday.... there's always drinking on friday. Saturday and Sunday too.

But I don't "party". Most of my drinking is done either at my apartment or one of my friend's, or out at a bar. I don't club or do drinking games or anything- I just have friends that drink a lot. Most of our activites revolve around drinking, which is a little strange.

But hell, even at my age (24) I realize I'm slowing down. I remember back when I used to work roofing I would drink all night and head right on down to the job. Pound down a couple of heinekens right after work, because beer never tastes as good as when you've been out in the sun all day. Now I feel like shit the next day if I'm up too late.

Weird thing. Maybe because i've mostly settled down with my girlfriend for now. I can definitely see myself slowing down in the upcoming years, but not stopping chilling with my friends all the time.

My situation is totally flipped. I stopped partying when most people were starting. From 17-20 I spent most my time in New Orleans living a party life, lived with parents and had a job just to pay for the partying. At 20 I got pregnant and all that came to a dead stop. So from the age of 20 to last year (28) I abstained from that lifestyle. Now, my daughter is at the age where she has sleepovers and is with her dad every other weekend so I have been getting back into that lifestyle. Someone recently used the term 'reformed party girl' to describe me, but I really see myself as just 'toned down' a bit. This last year I have gone out a lot (seeing as my 2 female co-workers that I hang with are quite the social butterflies) but no all nighters like I used to have as a teen. Well, just one.... but that was a Mexican house party... and it didn't even start until 1030pm, so what's a girl to do?

I dunno, I have gotten a lot of flack from some because I am 29 and still go out drinking and 'partying' (which is more bar hopping than party going) but it sure beats sitting home on Friday night by myself.

Having a decent job and a spouse while drinking too much on a very frequent basis just makes you a functioning alcoholic.

I'm 27, and I left all of that stuff behind after grad school. Binge drinking is a college sport. After 25, binge drinker becomes a little too synonymous with alcoholic for me.

The number one thing I hated about college parties was when something mildly amusing or funny would happen, and in response, another person (usually a drunk white male) would say "WOOOOO!!!". Do people still say "WOOOO"? In the late '90's, WOOOO was all the rage. Let's hope it was replaced with something better.

Back in my college days (15 years ago), "partying" specifically meant smoking pot.

My prime drinking years ran from my senior year of high school till two years after college. It tapered off afterwards not due to responsibilities or anything, but because I find alcohol intoxication to be relatively uninteresting. The initial buzz can be pleasant but it's difficult to maintain, and being drunk is boring. Nowadays I go out for a drink a handful of times a year, and never to the point of being drunk. I did have some impressive drinking episodes in my prime, so I did my time in the trenches.

Pot, on the other hand, is the best intoxicant ever. In that sense I still "party" often.

Some people may need to read this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoholic

Never understood the desire to drink 2-3 nights a week. One day of the beershits a month is plenty in my opinion.

I'm in my early 30s, have been lucky enough to keep the same basic friend group since college.

We've always called it "drinking" as opposed to "partying" or "vomiting." Simple folk, I guess. In college, it was drink-drink-drink beginning early afternoon on Thurs., again Fri., all day Sat. (especially in the Fall). Most of my friends went to grad school and I had a crap job, so we actually got worse in our 20s, sometimes 4-5 nights/week, usually kegs in someone's back yard on Saturday and Sunday.

Around age 30 I decided I had a bit of a problem (plus was just getting weary), so other than a beer or glass of wine or 2 with dinner once or twice a week, I let it go. But my friends (ages 30-36, 2 recently divorced, 1 single, the rest married) still get really blotto 2-3 times/week. I find it a bit worrying and am considered the group grandma.

"Alcoholism is the consumption of, or preoccupation with, alcoholic beverages to the extent that this behavior interferes with the drinker's normal personal, family, social, or work life"

Whew! My drinking doesn't interfere with anything.

New law, no more "Wooooo-ing" unless you're Ric Flair or are saluting Ric Flair with said "Woooooooooooo." Other than that you're a tool. IMHO, anyway. Of course I'm sure the inevitable "wrestling fans are tools" is not far away so I guess it's all relative.

Nope. Around here, it was replaced with "HEY-OOOOOOO" which is just as fucking retarded. I wish immediate death on every popped-collared pink-shirted lout who screams either that or "WOOOOO".

Almost as lame as the people who were having a huge party down the street the other night, and someone actually yelled "Party!". No shit, Sherlock, we thought you were having a poetry reading.

Nope. Around here, it was replaced with "HEY-OOOOOOO" which is just as fucking retarded. I wish immediate death on every popped-collared pink-shirted lout who screams either that or "WOOOOO".

Almost as lame as the people who were having a huge party down the street the other night, and someone actually yelled "Party!". No shit, Sherlock, we thought you were having a poetry reading.

Hey man, poetry readings can be some seriously party inducing shit. Haven't you seen Dead Poet's Society. Poetry caused those boys to go nuts!

Is that HEY-OOOOOOOO as in Ed MacMahon HEY-OOOOOOOO? If that's true, then i salute it.

I'm honestly not sure. I stopped watching wrestling when I moved out of the trailer park.

Factoid: The only thing that kept Ed MacMahon out of the then-WWF was his enormous jowls. His Tonight Show stint was merely a booby-prize.

Some background. In college my friends and I drank 5-6 nights a week depending on the time of year. Always on Thursday (bar night), Friday and Saturday and Sunday (duh, the weekend and football), on Mondays during football season, often on Wednesdays (fraternity/sorority function night) and sometimes Tuesdays (ladies night at the bars). And we drank a lot. Drinking in college for us was measured by the case and not the six-pack. Long and short of it, I believe we were functioning alcoholics for our entire stint of college from 18-21 or 22 years of age.

After school (sigh....) most of us moved to the same city so we would still drink like madmen, but dropped it down to heavy drinking on the weekends and occasionally one night during the week. That lasted from 22-24 years of age.

At 25 I got married and at 26 moved to the 'burbs. At that time I slowed down dramatically. And so did my other married friends. I would say that my group split at age 26-27. Half of the guys started getting married and buying houses and in turn slowed down. The other half kept up the partying 3 or so nights a week. And it has been that way ever since, with the numbers now around 85% slowed down at age 32/33 and 15% still partying. The split for years was often based on the marrieds vs. non-marrieds. But just recently one of the 15% was telling me how at age 33 he feels like it's getting old and even though he is single he is slowing down and so are the others in the 15%. All of us though, still go out and get crazy hammered during special occassions (bachelor parties, birthdays, weddings) and when we tailgate for football (the greatest time for drinking and eating in America).

One piece of advice. Be veeeeery careful not to become "that guy". You know who I mean. The dude in his late 30s hanging at the bars drinking like a fish trying to be all bad ass while hitting on girls 10-15 years younger that want nothing to do with him. No matter what you think. that guy is NOT cool. And if you disagree, you are that guy. Look yourself in the mirror and say hi, creepy dude.

I don't think it was that bad, it only went from sixty to zero in the time it takes salt water to get cold.

That was the worst time as far as hurting for friends goes I think I've ever had. And I mean like, bye bye to almost everyone I'd known since around middle school on, at least. There was no animosity, every time I talk to any of them they ask me to come over and have a beer, or something. It's more like I moved to a different country.

I envy anyone who can get their friends to meet for anything half as often as people do to drink.

Jesus fuck. What a pack of losers.

This whole culture of infantile binge drinking in the college "glory days," followed by sobriety in your so-called maturity is proof you flagwavers still haven't recovered from prohibition.

I forgot — this is the internet.

Ha.

I see no glory and only shame in alcoholism, or even drinking on a regular basis. Does that make me childish?

This thread prompted me to call up my friend to have a "liquid lunch". Makes going back to work that much better.

No Shmun, just boring.

So what, booze would suddenly make me an exciting fellow?

When I'm home, I'd rather hang out with my family than go out with any other group. In that milieu, the word party is usually followed by, "at Chuck E. Cheese."

When I'm on the road, I always spring for the first round of tequila for my crew. After that, it depends which country I'm in. If it's Portugal, I'm in the rack by midnight. If it's Japan, I won't even be on the train home 'til sunrise.

No, but saying that people drinking regularly should be ashamed is a bit extreme. Like said above by somebody else, when the behavior of said person is unhealthy, or that he endanger himself, then that's where you should draw the line.

Based on what you're saying, a glass or two of wine or beer a day is shameful.

Come on.

Never been the type to "party" - drink socially, on occasion, yea, party, no, not really. I came back to a community college after my first year at a "party" school. I did little to no partying then. Beer once in awhile, liquor once in awhile but nothing I'd consider partying. Being left behind for finals week after the RA had left mean puke in the halls. Half of my floor got kicked out by the 3rd quarter. I didn't get it then, I don't get it now. To each his own, I suppose.

Like I said, I'll drink socially and enjoy doing that. I won't deny that it makes being sociable easier and more fun. I fucking hate waking up feeling like shit so I try not to go that far that often.

Answer: the breakadawn.

Sometimes I stop when the sun comes up. Not always. There has been many times after last call that my friends and I buy cases of beer and host an after hours. There have even been times that when that beer runs out that we wait 'til the 6:00 a.m. and go buy more. Then maybe crash for a few hours, get up, and start again. When I was out of work and on the dole it wasn't uncommon to go on 4 to 5 day benders. I like to drink. I drank on Tuesday, I'll drink tonight, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday too. I am almost 35. I am a pro. I don't get sick, I don't get sloppy, and only sometimes do I have a bad hangover

So far, Frank Cobretti is the closest to my situation. (Hi, Frank! Good to see you dropping in more and more.) Except for the Chuck E. Cheese part. And the cool travel. My partying depends on the situation. Sometimes there's a lot, sometimes hardly any. Right now I'm in a period of lowered activity, so I've been enjoying the altered states a lot more. But production will get rolling at the top of next year and I'll be a tea-totler for a couple of months.

To answer the original question, I don't think you really have to give it up as long as you can keep it in its place and not let it eat you.

And I have to agree with some of the sentiments that we overreact to people's extracurricular activities a bit much in this country. People are so ready to judge you based on this or that. Just enjoy your life in whatever way that is best for you as long as you don't hurt anyone else and preferably don't shorten your own.

I do have to say that this thread has put me in the mood to make a pit stop on the way home.

[QUOTE=AlmightyShmun]This seems like a good place for the question: can someone tell me at what point "partying" came to mean "drinking?" [QUOTE]

I've always taken it to mean "blow" for guys and girls, though it sometimes means "fucking" when talking about certain girls. But still also blow.

Wasn't Ed McMahon saying "Hi-oh" and not "Hey-oh"? Eithere way I just want to say that I couldn't agree anymore with you, Minsky, and B Metal about the whooing. I went to college in the south and let me let you, redneck whooing takes regular whooing to a new level. It's fucking depressing. You can't just force the fun like that. I lived in a large apartment complex for a couple years where the back porches/balconies were all intertwined with courtyards and for at least 4 nights a week I shit you not there was a ridiculous WOOOOO! about every 30 seconds. I actually said this line many times "we gotta move out of here next year, I can't take all this whooing." But I do also concede that if there was a party that involved whoooing and hey-oooing on a stricly Ric Flair and Ed McMahon basis I would have no problem with that.

Here's my story - I'm 28 and single. I started drinking wth friends when I was in High School. That continued on through college. Other more intense drugs worked their way into partying around age 18. The other drugs petered out around age 21 because we all got fried. Drinking continued, and got heavier and more depressing. Drinking a lot can be depressing, but it's just a way of life for me and the people I hang out with. I love my friends, and we love getting drunk together. Sometimes it's a lot of fun, sometimes it's really fucked up and scary or sad. It's just how life is. I still drink a lot a couple nights a week, every couple months I have an incident where I go overboard and do something I regret. As I get older, I learn a little more, and my behaviour is less extreme. I can imagine possibly "settling down" at some point in the next five years, but I think even after I have kids and get married I will find ways to get together with friends and get hammered.

Based on what I know of you from your posts, fireworks coming out of your ass and a monkey growing out of your head wouldn't make you an exciting fellow.

Most people I've met that don't drink don't really know how to have fun.

I guess I stopped going out drinking every night about 16 years ago. I was 28 at the time. Yes, I did say every night. My folks ran a pub for 11 years & that helped introduce me to the joy of beer! I used to have a little list of reasons to go out each night (all tongue in cheek) that went like this...

Starts on Thursday, because that was payday.
Friday- like you need a better excuse!
Saturday- Always a good night out.
Sunday- Pool League night.
Monday- Back to work. Need a beer to cheer up.
Tuesday- Dullest night of the week. Might as well go out.
Wednesday- If any wages left, celebrate.

And back to Thursday again. Really sucked when I got a different job that payed monthly!!

I would take some amount of umbrage at that if it were false. I'm much more interesting in person, I promise.