Women Who Drink

Is this a blog entry that represents a double standard ?

Once a month, I have dinner with folks in a group I belong to. During the last dinner at the Old Spaghetti Factory, there were four women and three men at the table. Two of the men (I was one of the two) had nothing to drink. One woman to my left drank from the table wine bottle. Two women ordered a single mixed drink before the meal. One woman and one man had a total about three martinis each; before, during, and after the meal.

During the meal, the woman martini drinker got loud. She also dropped the F-bomb throughout her story telling. She picked on the waitstaff mercilessly. She spoke of her academic job in science; handling cadavers for students of anatomy.

I never took a liking to her because I never fully trusted her. I had discovered, for example, that she had found my ANCESTRY.com account and had copied the information. She even asked me questions about my personal life and family which were totally inappropriate because everyone who knows me also knows that my personal life is not something I share publicly.

I won't sit near her and--while others insist on hugging upon arrival and departure--I will not include her in the ritual. Should introvert me be forced to hug someone I don't want to touch?

I also have come to the realization long ago that I don't like being around folks who drink. Are there differences among and between them? Absolutely. But I am of the opinion that there are people who can drink responsibly (know when the limit is reached and not exceed it) and those who drink with the purpose of getting pie-eyed in mind. I don't much care to be in the company of anyone who is loud or using vulgar language in a public place.

So I avoid her. I sit at the opposite end of the table. And I shield myself from privacy invasion. But the question is why do I hold/have a double standard? There was a man who was doing the same amount of drinking. He got talkative and wouldn't stop babbling about the brilliant things that he has accomplished as evidenced by his financial success. The two women who both ordered a drink before the meal also had alcohol in them. They, however, stopped after one.

Such is my thinking on the subject of women who drink. Women who are loud in restaurants. Women who drop the F-bomb when telling stories.

Guess my hippie profile has a touch of old fuddy-duddy in it !