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| Alcohol-free January: Where can you go to avoid people drinking? | Alcohol-free January: Where can you go to avoid people drinking? |
| (8 days later) | |
| By Tom de Castella BBC News Magazine | By Tom de Castella BBC News Magazine |
| Many people are attempting to stop drinking during January. But with drinking at the heart of British social life, it's not easy. | Many people are attempting to stop drinking during January. But with drinking at the heart of British social life, it's not easy. |
| January is a time for sobriety. For some that means total abstinence. | January is a time for sobriety. For some that means total abstinence. |
| It's the only time of year in the UK when a lot of people bond over not drinking. This year two charities have given their blessing to temporary teetotalism. Alcohol Concern has launched Dry January while Cancer Research UK is pushing its Dryathlon. | It's the only time of year in the UK when a lot of people bond over not drinking. This year two charities have given their blessing to temporary teetotalism. Alcohol Concern has launched Dry January while Cancer Research UK is pushing its Dryathlon. |
| Those responding to campaigns like this can face a tricky month. Nobody wants to avoid socialising for a whole month, but with the British mania for social lubrication it's hard to avoid temptation. | Those responding to campaigns like this can face a tricky month. Nobody wants to avoid socialising for a whole month, but with the British mania for social lubrication it's hard to avoid temptation. |
| Think of a social occasion and it is hard to find many that do not involve booze. Traditional rites of passage - christening, wedding, funeral - are a precursor to a glass of cava or, perhaps at a wake, a steadying whisky. | Think of a social occasion and it is hard to find many that do not involve booze. Traditional rites of passage - christening, wedding, funeral - are a precursor to a glass of cava or, perhaps at a wake, a steadying whisky. |
| Occasions that seem to have no particular connection to drinking are still alcohol-laden occasions in British society. Sport's associated with health, but how many people gather for a game of five-a-side football and hit the bar immediately afterwards? Five-a-side centres typically have a bar to cater for this desire and Carling launched a 2% beer for the post-football drinkers. | Occasions that seem to have no particular connection to drinking are still alcohol-laden occasions in British society. Sport's associated with health, but how many people gather for a game of five-a-side football and hit the bar immediately afterwards? Five-a-side centres typically have a bar to cater for this desire and Carling launched a 2% beer for the post-football drinkers. |
| Book club usually means drinking. Many base themselves in pubs and even a Sunday lunchtime meeting can still mean endless glasses of cheap white wine. | Book club usually means drinking. Many base themselves in pubs and even a Sunday lunchtime meeting can still mean endless glasses of cheap white wine. |
| Fancy a trip to the theatre or to see some classical music? Be careful to avoid the interval drinks scrum. Hippos make their way to the watering hole with more restraint and poise. | Fancy a trip to the theatre or to see some classical music? Be careful to avoid the interval drinks scrum. Hippos make their way to the watering hole with more restraint and poise. |
| Comedy? Drink-fuelled. Dinner party? Everybody's brought wine. Picnic? Ice bag for the beers. Inter-city train travel? Count the miniature bottles of wine. | Comedy? Drink-fuelled. Dinner party? Everybody's brought wine. Picnic? Ice bag for the beers. Inter-city train travel? Count the miniature bottles of wine. |
| Alcohol dominates the British idea of a first social meeting. In the US, romances might start with the line, "D'you want to go for a coffee?" | Alcohol dominates the British idea of a first social meeting. In the US, romances might start with the line, "D'you want to go for a coffee?" |
| "D'you want to go for a drink?" is the classic British equivalent. | "D'you want to go for a drink?" is the classic British equivalent. |
| It's possible to turn a drink down, especially if you have religious dispensation. But for everyone else, eyebrows may be raised if one is not driving, pregnant, or on antibiotics. | It's possible to turn a drink down, especially if you have religious dispensation. But for everyone else, eyebrows may be raised if one is not driving, pregnant, or on antibiotics. |
| "Britain is one of the hardest countries in the world not to drink," says Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's director of communications at Downing Street, and a former alcoholic. "In America you don't really feel you have to explain yourself if you say 'I'll have a glass of water'." | "Britain is one of the hardest countries in the world not to drink," says Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's director of communications at Downing Street, and a former alcoholic. "In America you don't really feel you have to explain yourself if you say 'I'll have a glass of water'." |
| Not drinking in January is chiefly about getting healthy after Christmas excess. But it may reveal deeper truths about the British character. | Not drinking in January is chiefly about getting healthy after Christmas excess. But it may reveal deeper truths about the British character. |
| "We'd like to get people thinking about how very weird your social life is when you don't drink alcohol in this country," says Andrew Misell, spokesman for Alcohol Concern. | "We'd like to get people thinking about how very weird your social life is when you don't drink alcohol in this country," says Andrew Misell, spokesman for Alcohol Concern. |
| "Who's coming to the pub?" is the rallying cry at a thousand offices. | "Who's coming to the pub?" is the rallying cry at a thousand offices. |
| There's a rounds culture once you get there. You are buying into the collective. Anyone abstaining is sending a message to the group. "If someone opts out from the group it's almost like a rejection," says social anthropologist Kate Fox, author of Watching the English. "Others will get drunk and silly and the one opting out will look on a bit pious and disapproving." | There's a rounds culture once you get there. You are buying into the collective. Anyone abstaining is sending a message to the group. "If someone opts out from the group it's almost like a rejection," says social anthropologist Kate Fox, author of Watching the English. "Others will get drunk and silly and the one opting out will look on a bit pious and disapproving." |
| So what can the alcohol abstainer do without becoming a hermit? Lobby group Drink Aware suggests karaoke, but this seems to ignore the predilection for Dutch courage. Cinemas, which used to be dry, increasingly have bars. There is church, if you exclude the sacramental wine. | So what can the alcohol abstainer do without becoming a hermit? Lobby group Drink Aware suggests karaoke, but this seems to ignore the predilection for Dutch courage. Cinemas, which used to be dry, increasingly have bars. There is church, if you exclude the sacramental wine. |
| A rare exception to the booze-as-social-life mandate is the growth of the coffee shop. But aside from that, alcohol is everywhere. | A rare exception to the booze-as-social-life mandate is the growth of the coffee shop. But aside from that, alcohol is everywhere. |
| The growth of wine sales in the UK - an "incredible marketing success story" - has softened the image of alcohol and widened its appeal, particularly among women, Campbell says. | The growth of wine sales in the UK - an "incredible marketing success story" - has softened the image of alcohol and widened its appeal, particularly among women, Campbell says. |
| "People say 'I'll just have a glass of wine'. It's almost like you're not drinking," he says. | "People say 'I'll just have a glass of wine'. It's almost like you're not drinking," he says. |
| Fox, a researcher into behaviour around alcohol, says many cultures use drink for socialising. But the British appear lost without it. | Fox, a researcher into behaviour around alcohol, says many cultures use drink for socialising. But the British appear lost without it. |
| "They suffer from what I call social dis-ease. We don't have that natural street corner social ease that seems to come so naturally in other countries." | "They suffer from what I call social dis-ease. We don't have that natural street corner social ease that seems to come so naturally in other countries." |
| Misell wonders if alcohol has become a crutch for friendship. "You might wonder 'why do I need to drink to be with my friends? I should be able to relax with them anyway.'" | Misell wonders if alcohol has become a crutch for friendship. "You might wonder 'why do I need to drink to be with my friends? I should be able to relax with them anyway.'" |
| Then there's the idea that alcohol equals fun. The comedian Frank Skinner, who used to be a heavy drinker before giving up, described in a newspaper column how he would sit around with friends and laugh at their drunken exploits. | Then there's the idea that alcohol equals fun. The comedian Frank Skinner, who used to be a heavy drinker before giving up, described in a newspaper column how he would sit around with friends and laugh at their drunken exploits. |
| "None of us had the guts to say: "But it wasn't really us, was it? It was us made more colourful by a drug." | "None of us had the guts to say: "But it wasn't really us, was it? It was us made more colourful by a drug." |
| For Skinner it was a self-delusion that also afflicted the respectable social drinker for whom alcohol made life "that little bit more manageable, that little bit easier to navigate." | For Skinner it was a self-delusion that also afflicted the respectable social drinker for whom alcohol made life "that little bit more manageable, that little bit easier to navigate." |
| But Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide rejects the idea that the UK is a dependency culture reliant on drink. Alcohol consumption is falling, he says. An analysis of HMRC data shows that total alcohol consumption per head of the UK population fell by 13% between 2004 and 2011 | But Roger Protz, editor of the Good Beer Guide rejects the idea that the UK is a dependency culture reliant on drink. Alcohol consumption is falling, he says. An analysis of HMRC data shows that total alcohol consumption per head of the UK population fell by 13% between 2004 and 2011 |
| And to give up alcohol completely smacks of the crash diet. "There's a lot of medical opinion in Germany about beer and health suggesting that in moderation it is likely to do you more good than harm." The key is to "sample it, sip it, savour it" with likeminded people, he says. | And to give up alcohol completely smacks of the crash diet. "There's a lot of medical opinion in Germany about beer and health suggesting that in moderation it is likely to do you more good than harm." The key is to "sample it, sip it, savour it" with likeminded people, he says. |
| Some may be attracted to the idea of complete abstinence. It is a staple of religious orders to fast or adhere to a strict diet. It offers a sense that one is taking control of temptation. | Some may be attracted to the idea of complete abstinence. It is a staple of religious orders to fast or adhere to a strict diet. It offers a sense that one is taking control of temptation. |
| But this is an "unhealthy" way to treat alcohol, Fox believes. As with many other Protestant countries, the UK has a tradition of seeing drinking as an exciting vice rather than something more everyday, such as a glass of wine with food. It is famine or feast. | But this is an "unhealthy" way to treat alcohol, Fox believes. As with many other Protestant countries, the UK has a tradition of seeing drinking as an exciting vice rather than something more everyday, such as a glass of wine with food. It is famine or feast. |
| "The idea of giving up drink for a month is not something people do in an integrated drinking culture. It's almost like a religious purging of sin." | "The idea of giving up drink for a month is not something people do in an integrated drinking culture. It's almost like a religious purging of sin." |
| You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook | You can follow the Magazine on Twitter and on Facebook |
| Have you found it difficult to avoid drink? And where are the places you can avoid alcohol? Here is a selection of your comments | |
| I gave up drinking just over a year ago. I enjoy going out to the pub or to a bar, but the non-alcoholic drinks selection isn't great. Cheap and gone off fruit juices or sugary fizzy stuff. All right for one or two, but when my mates are having ten drinks a night I get really stuck on finding something I can keep drinking. It makes you realise how completely unnatural it is to be downing such a big volume of fluids in an evening. | |
| Darren Grey, London | |
| If you want to buy a pint of, say, orange squash and/or lemonade it will cost £2.00 or more for a drink that costs pence to produce. The reason we have an alcohol problem in Britain is because the main pub chains discourage the drinking of non-alcoholic drinks. | |
| David Overment, Swansea | |
| It is possible to be sociable and teetotal in Britain as long as you can break the social life equals booze link in your mind. You have to re-jig your social life a bit . I now spend most evening in night classes or doing sports. I even took up dance classes and recently danced in public for the first time, stone cold sober! In a previous life it took a few gallons of booze for me to even consider shuffling my feet! | |
| James, London | |
| I do not know of anywhere you can go to avoid alcohol apart from a coffee shop, although some of these may have some alcohol for Irish Coffee for example. What's worse is I don't like coffee. | |
| Debbie, Leeds | |
| Ten days into my "Dryathon" and I caved in. By Friday night, drinking red wine in front of our log fire - I just could not say no. It is too difficult. Am I an alcoholic? | |
| Anon, Basingstoke | |
| When I arrived from Germany more than 10 years ago a friend told me that "Here in Scotland drinking is not for pleasure. It's a sport". And it's true. Coffee shops are the ideal places to hang out and to enjoy yourself without alcohol. Personally I welcome the rising numbers of coffee shops in Glasgow where many stay open till 10pm or even 11pm so that it is possible to hang out there with friends after work. Ten years ago ordering a coffee in a pub would just earn the reply "The coffee machine is off, it's 5pm". | |
| Bernd Porr, Glasgow | |
| Parties and weddings took a bit of getting used to, but are fine now. I go to the pub with friends and drink either water (which is free) or soda and lime. No-one minds that I don't get involved in rounds. | |
| L Hunt, Rugby | |
| Thank goodness for coffee places. As a recovering alcoholic I want to socialise but trying to meet friend of workmates almost always means the pub. I don't even attend staff Chrismas Parties because the drink is everywhere and sooner of later some fool will try and push booze on me. | |
| Steve Prosser, Bradford | |
| Since being diagnosed with a rare form of Epilepsy around a year ago I was told to avoid alcohol and have abstained ever since. Despite being in my mid-twenties I've found that a simple "I'll have a coke please" does leave that question lingering in the air "why not a beer?". You find out who your good friends are - those that understand and spend time with you even when you're not totally drunk. | |
| Jamie, Farnborough | |
| I do the January abstinence thing (I also go vegan from being vegetarian) and caved in just last weekend. It felt strange to be forcing myself to not have a glass of wine and some bread to finish off a long week's work. I felt guilty at first however that's all I had and felt fine the next day. I then went further and had more drink on the Saturday night, like I used to when younger, but the hangover on Sunday was rubbish. I believe I did this in reaction to having been 'booze-free' for two weeks. This isn't good. It reminded me that excess is bad, not moderation. We just need to know when to stop and switch to a Non-alcoholic drink. I have now adopted a new year habit, which I have called 'the golden mean'. This is more realistic, healthy, and good for the soul. | |
| Therachster, Oxford | |
| You think trying to avoid alcohol is bad? For various reasons (health and personal) I'm trying to give up caffeine. Trying to find reasonably priced drinks that aren't either tap water or coke/pepsi is a nightmare! | |
| James Hadwen, Norwich |