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 Toastedandy wrote:
As an Irish person, no one honestly cares, if someone does buy you a drink, its common cutesy to return the favor, but if you cant afford to get full rounds, don't. Getting strangers to buy rounds is just a way to get free drink off naive tourists, always has been always will be.

This is why I'm proud to be part Irish. People call us stupid, yet we're actually really smart.

Anyone who avoids rounds because they don't want to be 50p out of pocket at the end of the night might not be someone I would want to socialise with anyway, but I can live with it. Some people have to work on a tight budget and be careful with their cash, after all.

Anyone who avoids rounds because they don't want to be forced to drink faster than they can cope with, I am fine with.

Anyone who accepts drinks in a round, but doesn't pony up when it is their turn will be excluded from the group, not just from the rounds. Seriously, if you are that sort of person, I don't want to know you.

THIS^^^^^^^^.

Thanks guys... this is all kinds of interesting.

My mum travels all over Europe and has offered me to tag along for a few weeks this summer,with Ireland being one possible destination. I figured it'd be fun to hit up the local pubs at each destination.

That might be a good opener to ask what's the proper convention at that location... I'll just probably straight up ask the bartender.

 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:

 Dreadclaw69 wrote:
As an authentic Irish person I can confirm that the article is pretty much spot on

 SoloFalcon1138 wrote:
sounds right. Also, if you are going this weekend, it would probably be a good thing to refrain from being too excited about St Patrick's Day, its more of an American "let's drink" holiday.

Its a lets drink holiday regardless of where you are

No so much over there... But, what am I talking about, you're an American! No one is loved more than a boorish and drunk American in a foreign country!

/sarcasm

Maybe you missed the "As an authentic Irish person I can confirm that the article is pretty much spot on" I'm posting from the US but I'm Irish born and bred, I just moved over in July to be with my wife. And yes, in Ireland St. Patrick's Day is often a competition to see who can drink the most before alcohol poisoning sets in


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 whembly wrote:
Thanks guys... this is all kinds of interesting.

My mum travels all over Europe and has offered me to tag along for a few weeks this summer,with Ireland being one possible destination. I figured it'd be fun to hit up the local pubs at each destination.

That might be a good opener to ask what's the proper convention at that location... I'll just probably straight up ask the bartender.

What parts of Ireland?

 whembly wrote:
Thanks guys... this is all kinds of interesting.

My mum travels all over Europe and has offered me to tag along for a few weeks this summer,with Ireland being one possible destination. I figured it'd be fun to hit up the local pubs at each destination.

That might be a good opener to ask what's the proper convention at that location... I'll just probably straight up ask the bartender.

Seriously mate, just forget about it and do your own thing. American bars aren't very different from British/Irish pubs at all, in my experience. You won't be expected to tip, and you'll be expected to pay for each drink up front, but that's about it. All this 'round' stuff is nonsense. Unless it's your actual mates, no-one will expect you to get into a round. If someone offers to buy you a drink, say thank-you. If you want to return the favour that's up to you.

"The gift is the blessing of the giver."

I find the round culture tends to vary by demographic, older groups tend to work more in rounds, younger groups work more on a 'buy your own' principle. Size of group tends to come into play as well (generally, if it's less than 5, it's rounds, otherwise buy your own).

However, as far as a general consensus, round my demographic people tend to buy their own drinks, and usually buying in rounds is reserved for groups <5 people who know each other quite well.

One would suggest it's more likely that people will take the piss out of you over the fact that your mum has taken you on holiday rather than anything else.

Rounds annoy me. (in england )

I don't drink, I normally just sit and hug a coke all night and I hate the 'I buy you a drink so you buy me one' idea when everyone else's drinks cost 2.5 times mine. I could drink coke all night and spend £7-8. 1 Round costs about £20 round our way.
I also hate being included in rounds without asking - I had this once -a drink just appeared in front of me - and then I got sulked at because I didn't have any money for the next round (they hadn't even asked me first). I only had enough for a coke and the bus home so I'd just gone to be sociable - they wanted me to try and buy 6 drinks for £1.50 and then go for a six mile walk to get home
I also got included on a round and bought carling. I have never drunk carling - it's just awful. Bleh. I thought I was being punished for something

If I'm included on a round, I offer the buyer a drink to extricate myself from the round, then make sure no one else buy's me anything.

I've got no problems buying other people drinks, I'll offer to buy a fair amount too, but I'm not buying rounds. It's a great way to turn a £7-8 spend for the night into £50-60.

It's the same when we've gone for meals - we've a guy who always orders steak/prawns etc and then say's 'lets split the bill'
Then sulks at me for saying no because I had pasta. I didn't have much money and wanted to keep it cheap. My meal cost about half the average spend on that night.
Once, we went for a curry. I only had enough for a naan bread and some mango chutney. Then I got moaned at for not wanting to split the bill...
So yeah, I don't do rounds...
/rant over.

No one should be pressured into rounds.

Edit: I was skint a lot when I was younger too...

I'm normally that guy who says let's split the bill and orders an expensive meal, but I also make sure that I chuck in at least enough to cover my share plus a 10% tip. In practice, that actually means I always shell out more than my fair share, but never by much. Another guy who used to be part of the group would always chuck in almost enough to cover his fair share, without a tip. It did get noticed. He is no longer invited to anything. People notice these things. You land up with the circle(s) of friends you deserve.

Like a lot of social rules, it seems to be based on the idea of "dont' be a mooch."

And like most social rules, giving people a hard time for not following the nuance is a bigger jerk move than some minor lapse.

 Fifty wrote:
I'm normally that guy who says let's split the bill and orders an expensive meal, but I also make sure that I chuck in at least enough to cover my share plus a 10% tip. In practice, that actually means I always shell out more than my fair share, but never by much. Another guy who used to be part of the group would always chuck in almost enough to cover his fair share, without a tip. It did get noticed. He is no longer invited to anything. People notice these things. You land up with the circle(s) of friends you deserve.

I'd be fine if we'd agreed at the start of the night to split the bill - it's when I was younger and didn't have much money and tried to eat as cheaply as I could. Then someone does some maths at the end of the meal that turns my £6 dinner into £15. When you've only got a tenner, it's not what you want to hear
Our guy always only ever put in the average cost of the meal. So I think he wanted subsidising.

It's the same as the buy one get one free con - we'll each buy a meal and split the bill. But one meal is cheaper, so the person who buy's the cheapest should pay half (of their cost) and the other should pay the difference. Otherwise, the guy with the cheaper dinner is getting his pocket picked again...

In case you haven't guessed, we don't suggest splitting the bill anymore. But we do still go out for food so it's all good

PredaKhaine wrote:
Rounds annoy me. (in england )

I don't drink, I normally just sit and hug a coke all night and I hate the 'I buy you a drink so you buy me one' idea when everyone else's drinks cost 2.5 times mine. I could drink coke all night and spend £7-8. 1 Round costs about £20 round our way.
I also hate being included in rounds without asking - I had this once -a drink just appeared in front of me - and then I got sulked at because I didn't have any money for the next round (they hadn't even asked me first). I only had enough for a coke and the bus home so I'd just gone to be sociable - they wanted me to try and buy 6 drinks for £1.50 and then go for a six mile walk to get home
I also got included on a round and bought carling. I have never drunk carling - it's just awful. Bleh. I thought I was being punished for something

If I'm included on a round, I offer the buyer a drink to extricate myself from the round, then make sure no one else buy's me anything.

I've got no problems buying other people drinks, I'll offer to buy a fair amount too, but I'm not buying rounds. It's a great way to turn a £7-8 spend for the night into £50-60.

No one should be pressured into rounds.

Edit: I was skint a lot when I was younger too...

In those circumstances it's perfectly acceptable to opt out of doing rounds, and from personal experience no one worth their salt will mind. In fact if you're spending the night drinking soft drinks then the people you're out with should be the ones telling you not to worry about getting a round in.

PredaKhaine wrote:
It's the same when we've gone for meals - we've a guy who always orders steak/prawns etc and then say's 'lets split the bill'
Then sulks at me for saying no because I had pasta. I didn't have much money and wanted to keep it cheap. My meal cost about half the average spend on that night.
Once, we went for a curry. I only had enough for a naan bread and some mango chutney. Then I got moaned at for not wanting to split the bill...
So yeah, I don't do rounds...
/rant over.

I think the problem is less with the system, but more to do with people who will take advantage of the situation and exploit social norms into shaming people into picking up their tab. If you're out and someone is blatantly taking the p*ss like that then you are absolutely right to call them out on it. Try excluding that person a few times (if you can) and see if his attitude changes.

In the US, we have a lot more 'table service' where parts of the bar have someone who brings you your drinks. Then it just becomes people ordering what they drink and then settling up at the end of the night. (which can be terrible for people who don't tip or can't do math)

When buying from the bar, usually you open a 'TAB', give them your credit card and then the bartender knows where to charge your drinks. I can say 'put them on my tab' and the bartender knows that those people are drinking 'on me'. Then it is up to us to determine how they settle up. Usually giving me cash later in the night or being someone I am buying drinks for. It is usually easy enough for each person to have their own tab. I guess we are big into our credit cards and electronic bar systems. Using cash often seems impossible in many bars.

'Buying a round' usually has a lot more to do with the act of fetching beer in the US. like "while you was up..." getting beer from the fridge or cooler. The main time the 'round' system seems to be in effect is when at a club where they are just serving cheap bottles out of coolers for cash so someone is buying 4 bottle for 2$ each type thing. You fetchy, you Pay.

I Agree with Polonius... It all boils down to 'don't be a mooch. '

I think the article presents the situation as more serious than it really is. If you just say "I'd rather not get in on rounds tonight" almost everyone will leave you to it. At that point, if someone buys you a drink it really is them being generous. And they can't reasonably say you didn't stand your round.

I would say that people often are generous to a skint friend or tourist if the person is good company, too. Buying someone a drink is an easy way to show approval.

My dad hates rounds, and never gets in on them, but he will sometimes buy people drinks if they are down on their luck and so on. Anyhow. Take the article with a grain of salt. There's a lot of truth in it, but it's not nearly that strict, and asking about the right way to do things will probably endear you to the locals anyway.

 reds8n wrote:
One would suggest it's more likely that people will take the piss out of you over the fact that your mum has taken you on holiday rather than anything else.

I was waiting for someone to bring that up...

Her work requires that she travels world wide... she has a gak-ton of airline/hotel points. Most likely, she'll just cash in on tickets/hotel rooms for me... (and maybe meet up at certain cities). It's not like we're vayca-ing together. o.O

Anyhoo... great discussion!