ronnie_suburban wrote:Other than being some sort of desperate, post-holiday marketing salvo, is there an actual point to it? Does anyone really abide or care?
The GP wrote:ronnie_suburban wrote:Other than being some sort of desperate, post-holiday marketing salvo, is there an actual point to it? Does anyone really abide or care?
So much for not yucking somebody's yum.![]()
I have had friends doing Dry January before it became this huge thing. It is a good way to reset after the excess of the holidays. For some, it helps recalibrate their relationship with alcohol. None of this seems like a bad thing. Though not going completely dry this month, I am being more conscious about what/when/how much I'm drinking.
The GP wrote:ronnie_suburban wrote:Other than being some sort of desperate, post-holiday marketing salvo, is there an actual point to it? Does anyone really abide or care?
So much for not yucking somebody's yum.![]()
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boudreaulicious wrote:The GP wrote:ronnie_suburban wrote:Other than being some sort of desperate, post-holiday marketing salvo, is there an actual point to it? Does anyone really abide or care?
So much for not yucking somebody's yum.![]()
I have had friends doing Dry January before it became this huge thing. It is a good way to reset after the excess of the holidays. For some, it helps recalibrate their relationship with alcohol. None of this seems like a bad thing. Though not going completely dry this month, I am being more conscious about what/when/how much I'm drinking.
Agree. And bars & restaurants programming for it is a way for them to salvage some business when folks might otherwise be staying home. Seems pretty logical to me.
lougord99 wrote:Wow.
Alcohol is a serious health problem in this country. Certainly many ( most / majority / large majority ?? ) have no issues and can take or leave alcohol as they choose. Anyone not in that category needs to do their best to moderate.
I cannot understand anyone who denigrates any effort to limit alcohol intake.
ronnie_suburban wrote:lougord99 wrote:Wow.
Alcohol is a serious health problem in this country. Certainly many ( most / majority / large majority ?? ) have no issues and can take or leave alcohol as they choose. Anyone not in that category needs to do their best to moderate.
I cannot understand anyone who denigrates any effort to limit alcohol intake.
Yeah, I'm a terrible fucking person, lol.
Again, if one has a serious issue with alcohol, Dry January isn't going to help.
=R=
boudreaulicious wrote:That’s actually not true. One day at a time is actually one of the principal tenants of AA. And I’m guessing“dry January” has helped more than a few folks start their first day.
It’s also not necessarily about quitting drinking—just committing to a month to reset and focus on other things besides imbibing. I’ve done it and thought it was beneficial and was surprised by the difference in how I felt.
If you don’t want to do it or think it wouldn’t be worthwhile for you, that’s completely your prerogative. But your responses seem much harsher than necessary—just my perspective.
nr706 wrote:I'm practicing a dry January. No showers all month. (Might need to go through a lot of deodorant, though.)
ronnie_suburban wrote:I had no idea I would stir up such shit by casually venting about stupid, useless Dry January. If you feel it really makes a difference in peoples' lives, please don't let me disavow you of that belief. If I cared more about it (or at all) I'd ask you to present some data, or even a single example . . . but I don't.
I'm unlikely to ever think of Dry January in a favorable light. It just tries a bit too hard to be something genuine but it's just an Advertising-world concoction intended to manipulate peoples' spending behavior.
=R=
lougord99 wrote:ronnie_suburban wrote:I had no idea I would stir up such shit by casually venting about stupid, useless Dry January. If you feel it really makes a difference in peoples' lives, please don't let me disavow you of that belief. If I cared more about it (or at all) I'd ask you to present some data, or even a single example . . . but I don't.
I'm unlikely to ever think of Dry January in a favorable light. It just tries a bit too hard to be something genuine but it's just an Advertising-world concoction intended to manipulate peoples' spending behavior.
=R=
Let us agree to strongly disagree on this subject and move forward in our mutual love of cooking.
blockclubchicago wrote:A quarter of Americans 21 and over participated in Dry January last year, which surpasses the 16 percent who avoided alcohol during Dry January 2023, according to 2024 tracking by CivicScience. And about 49 percent of millennials and 61 percent of Gen Z tried to drink less in 2024, according to a survey last year by research firm NC Solutions.
at nytimes.com, Emily Schmall wrote:Conscious of the health risks of alcohol, more people are experimenting with cutting back on drinking.
One day last year, Christine Mosley woke up with the kind of hangover that inspires self-reckoning. That day, she decided she would never drink again.
A few days later, Ms. Mosley, 31, found herself with a cocktail in hand. For her at least, she said, “it’s really not that simple.”
More recently, Ms. Mosley, a business marketing manager in San Francisco, has tried to be not fully sober, but “soberish,” by reducing her alcohol consumption and paying closer attention to its effects on her mood and health.
“I want to emphasize the ‘-ish’ part — not to be dry but to increase the number of dry days,” she said.
The designation, sometimes also referred to as “sober curious,” has caught on in the United States and elsewhere as the health risks of alcohol become better understood. “Soberish” can mean drinking more mindfully, drinking less or avoiding alcohol altogether but not other drugs. At parties, people often reach for seltzers and nonalcoholic beers, and more people are using apps that help them track and reduce their alcohol intake.
Dry January may be a very useful framework for avoiding social pressure to drink. Many posting here are, I suspect, on the more mature end of life's spectrum and able to confidently assert their preferences for drinking or not. But younger folks, or more malleable ones, may need the sort of peer pressure escape hatch that Dry January provides. Unfortunately, they're back on their own once the shortest month arrives.
on the more mature end of life's spectrum
No good idea goes unmonetized.Katie wrote:As the St. Louis Riverfront Times put it, "It's a good thing to do, and it costs nothing to participate—so naturally, influencers have found a way to monetize it."
Katie wrote:I don't dispute at all the potential benefits of reducing or eliminating alcohol consumption as much or as frequently as one feels would be beneficial for oneself. But I do get a bit of the same feeling as Ronnie about Dry January --- specifically (in my opinion), that it is a fairly recent and big thing with the Tik Tok influencer crowd.
As the St. Louis Riverfront Times put it, "It's a good thing to do, and it costs nothing to participate—so naturally, influencers have found a way to monetize it." This New York Times opinion piece ("Dry January Is Driving Me to Drink") supports the notion that there is some pushback against the social media influencing aspect of dry January.
Statistics show that Dry January in the US is most popular with those 18-29 years old and that its popularity decreases from there with increasing age.
I think tjr makes a very astute point here:Dry January may be a very useful framework for avoiding social pressure to drink. Many posting here are, I suspect, on the more mature end of life's spectrum and able to confidently assert their preferences for drinking or not. But younger folks, or more malleable ones, may need the sort of peer pressure escape hatch that Dry January provides. Unfortunately, they're back on their own once the shortest month arrives.