Cheers

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I noticed that some of the newspapers have reported on figures recently published by Public Health England suggesting that, deprived of their friendship groups, the retired are turning to alcohol for comfort during the pandemic. Apparently we need something to spend all the money we are saving as a consequence of being deprived of holidays and eating out. Constrained, lonely and flush with cash we are hitting the bottle!

Speak for yourself (hic..) but it must be a trend that has passed me by. I confess that back in March,  lockdown did seem a little like the beginning of a long holiday, meaning that Mister E and I perhaps cracked open a bottle of wine on a school night or two. However, we quickly realised that we were potentially in the clutches of the epidemic for the longer term and the novelty soon wore off.

In any event a more detailed analysis of the figures suggests that the percentage of the over 55's who admit to drinking more is actually a minority, so perhaps I'm not missing out after all. Moreover if savings are accumulating as a result, rest assured should I find them (under the mattress or wherever) then I would hope to spend them on travel and exploration the moment our shackles are released and the world is once again a safe place.

 

Comments

Treaders said…
I did pretty good staying away from the wine during the first lockdown but I need to give it a break now as my consumption is going up. Heck when you can't even go out it's so easy to get into the habit of opening a bottle! I actually just thought this morning trying to not have anything to drink until Christmas. I did Dry January this year so we'll see how that goes!
18 November 2020 at 09:46
Caree Risover said…
Yes, it’s something I associate with holidays and weekends and so easy to correlate retirement and lockdown with both.
18 November 2020 at 13:29
Mona McGinnis said…
Caree, I'm doing a good enough job self-medicating with food without adding alcohol to the fray! Alcohol hasn't sat well with me for a long time and I still have visions of vodka & pepsi with lime; G&T; shandy; a good ceasar.
18 November 2020 at 16:04
Caree Risover said…
Ah yes, I hope nobody seeks to do a survey on the increase in chocolate consumption in our house!
18 November 2020 at 19:01
Jennyff said…
At 2 euros a litre for good wine direct from the vineyard we cannot resist a glass or two at dinner. Nothing to do with lockdown, we always enjoy the local grape, free from many chemicals it never brings on headache so it must be OK. However, we avoid alcohol at lunchtime, that would be a slippery slope although Italian friends insist it does give you a nice afternoon sleep.
19 November 2020 at 10:48
Caree Risover said…
Clearly if I was in Italy my behaviour would have to adapt too. When in Rome etc..
19 November 2020 at 21:41
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