Do young people still go on benders?

Posted by Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 399 comments

Do kids still hang out in the parks and drink cider and smoke joints? Do youngsters go out clubbing on a friday and stagger home some point on saturday after drinking loads and smashing a kebab on the high street?

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399 Comments

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Significant_Bad535@reddit

Yes mate doing it right now at 19👍 not too big on clubbing that’s more your gen

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Silent_Frosting_442@reddit

I'm guessing benders, like everything else, are much more expensive than 20-40 years ago. Plus now there's the risk you'll be filmed saying/doing something you'll regret the next morning.

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

Absolutely, remember heading out into town on a Friday night, late 90s early 2ks, with 40 quid in my wallet and quite happily buy ten fags, pre drink in spoons, get into the club, few drinks in there, kebab after and still get a taxi back with change to spare and absolutely no evidence except for hazy memories. 40 quid doesn't even last a few hours in spoons these days with a few rounds.

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Ultimate_os@reddit

A night out is now easily over £100. I still remember when I was at uni in 2017-2020 you could the whole thing for £30. That’s probably going to stop a lot of people going out regularly. It’s so sad really.

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captaincracksparra@reddit

Try easily over £300

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themrjakey10@reddit

I went to uni in 2019, was the greatest year ever of going out in my life, I could still go to a cash point and take £20 out for the night (after the vodka at pres) and be fine. Then Covid hit, I remember we went to the same club we always went to but it was that time after Covid where clubs were only open as socially distanced tables, one drink was £18 and it was what we were paying £3 for a year before. It’s a shame how many clubs and venues suffered from Covid and just never recovered, now people of that age just go to the shop and buy alcohol because the inflation on that is nothing compared to drinks in clubs, you still get busy clubs but that’s because the amount of them has just gone down so much that there’s limited choice for people to go to. A real shame as it will have effects on the grassroots music industry as well if no one is going to these places

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OldGodsAndNew@reddit

I was at uni 2014-2018, £30 was possible but that would be pre-drinking and walking to/from the club £60 was more realistic most of the time, for the bus in, 4-5 pints at the pub, club entry, 3-5 drinks in the club, chips & shared taxi home

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ultragoldensupremo@reddit

Think it’s quite location dependent - in 2015 if we pre-drank properly £20 each could get a split taxi both ways, club entry, few drinks inside and a tray of chips on your way home. £100 a week used to fund four or five nights out if you were sensible, reckon that’s one or two now even with student deals

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Feelincheekyson@reddit

Bring back the £1 pints and shots, £2 vodka/mixer I say

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Bolly_Eggs@reddit

I work in catering and some of the youngsters on potwash are absolutely stunned that you used to get pound a pint nights. One pub near us 'the yellow' did them religiously every Thursday

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Feelincheekyson@reddit

Ours was a Thursday too! What a time to be alive

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Bolly_Eggs@reddit

Thirsty Thursdays aka the weekend warm up!

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samo7230@reddit

You should visit The Raz in Liverpool then

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twillett@reddit

Used to do a whole night out in Liverpool for £15 in 2017/18 or so. Big pre-drinks, walk to town, £2.50 doubles (max), free entry. Those were the days.

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samo7230@reddit

Still can on student night in the Raz probably. But those £2.50 doubles in electrik were unbelievable value

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theredvip3r@reddit

Yep, and the max maintenance loan has increased by like a grand since 2020 And wages haven't gone up for shit either. It's just literally unaffordable.

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

Yeah, me and the Mrs went out a few weekends ago. Nothing special, just a few pre drinks in spoons, stop in wagama for food and then off to revs for a few cocktails and a bit of a dance. Add it all up, including taxis and other assorted bits we ended up blowing just shy of 200 notes. Absolutely insane! Almost 40 quid in taxis alone and we only live like six miles outside the town center 😂

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Outside_Natural7210@reddit

Jesus mate, try to get the bus in next time save on a taxi at least?

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

Alas parents live in some out of the way village with a bus service that runs like three times a day and stops at 5pm 😂

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Corona21@reddit

200 notes? A grand?

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

Just local slang, £200

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Ultimate_os@reddit

Yep, a night out is a special occasion now, rather than something you can do weekly.

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confused_potato1682@reddit

how are you coming up with these numbers? I've done a few Thurs-Friday-Saturdays recently and probably spend £100 quid total. Granted, where I live atm seems like it's stuck 20 years in the past.

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Ultimate_os@reddit

My bank balance. £100 for 3 nights would be exceptionally cheap.

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confused_potato1682@reddit

I suppose it depends on location. It's very cheap here.

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isomies@reddit

Uzbekistan?

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Captains_Parrot@reddit

In my tiny town in the north west you can get a pint of shite beer, like Carlsberg, for £2. If you're feeling flush something like a Corona will set you back £2.80. At our fanciest bar, which is nice to be fair, a cocktail will set you back £6.50. It's not like I'm in the middle of nowhere either, can be in the centre of Manchester in 30 minutes.

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No-Photograph3463@reddit

Crikey, where I am (Bournemouth) it's £4.50 for a cocktail in Spoons, and a nice place is more like £10-15 for a cocktail!

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ProgrammerComplete17@reddit

I live near Skegness and where I live it is around £4 a pint for red stripe. Can easily have a night out for £40.

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Realistic-River-1941@reddit

I can confirm thay Skeggie is cheap. And also doesn't cost much.

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Corona21@reddit

Samarkand is a great a night out btw

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confused_potato1682@reddit

Barrow, so close enough😆

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Albert_Herring@reddit

My big Saturday nights out tend to run to about £30-35 including the 3am taxi, and I drink in a craft beer and orange wine place not at all known for its cheapness. Basically, the trick is to be a lightweight and don't get involved with rounds.

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chadgalaxy@reddit

I did a Fri-Sat a few months ago and spent about £250. This was in Manchester though so probably more spendy than most places.

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Sgt_major_dodgy@reddit

>A night out is now easily over £100 I'm spending that on beak before drinks are even in the equation. Depending on where you drink you're paying £5-8 a pint, then possibly going back to someone's gaff and getting a bottle of something or a crate of beer and in the end you'll spend a fortune to feel like a body without a grave for the next 5 days.

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Villianofthepeace@reddit

Went day drinking in Dublin two weeks ago and £100 would last the afternoon and start of the evening - over £10 a pint pretty much.

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cmpthepirate@reddit

Yeah but uni nights are probably still 2 quid for a pint of snakebite and black and sell thousands of pints of it per night. Trading on scale. As opposed to regular nights which are less likely to support or engage binge drinking.

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haywire@reddit

But surely wages have increased 3x to match right? Right????

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ConfectionHelpful471@reddit

I have always struggled to spend less than £100 on a proper night out (pre-drinking, bar or two, nightclub, Scran if any money left) since I started going out in about 2013. A lot of its down to how much you need to drink before getting a bit tipsy rather than location as outside of student bars/areas a drink costs more or less the same across the country.

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TheHornyGoth@reddit

Last time I went out in 2025 £40 would still get me hammered on 2 bottles of red wine at the club and a taxi back. That’s spids for ya

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NuclearClash@reddit

I remember being annoyed at being charged more than a fiver in a nightclub for a double jack and coke when i first started going out in the mid-2000's.

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Thai-Girl69@reddit

I started drinking at age 15 after getting my first part time job in a restaurant to earn £30 a week. This was the mid 90s. We would get drunk on cheap cider for £1.99 for 3 liters. Then we would go to a bar in town on a Thursday night when doorstaff didn't care too much about ID and age. We would buy maybe 2 pints of beer and down them to mix with the cider and get our buzz on. We would then go to the night at 10pm when it was still free to get in before 11pm. We would buy a bottle of something in there but it was for show as the 3 liters of cider and 2 pints of Stella would be hitting hard. Often we would go on the empty dance floor and start raving with our shirts undone and get told to button them up again. At 2am we would share a taxi back home which was 12 miles away and cost about £10 between 3 of us. We probably spent less than £15 each. Several times we walked the 12 miles home at night which took us 3 or 4 hours. We were still at school too so several times we were there Friday morning absolutely stinking of alcohol but the teachers didn't really care as drinking was just normal in the UK and you were expected to start in your teens. Sometimes we would drink Tennents Super instead of Cider and I don't even understand how it's legal to sell that disgusting shit.

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

Hahaha! Ah this sounds like my youth in a nutshell 😂

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OldManChino@reddit

Whilst i agree, it's very expensive to go out... £40 in 2000 is about £76.73 now

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

I agree inflation is a part of it, but there's no questioning that costs to go out have far exceeded inflation since then. Case in point, taxi to town back then £4, same journey a couple of weeks ago, £16. (Me and the Mrs popped back to see the parents). 20 cigs, back then £2.20. current price for pretty much the same £14.80. Pint of Budweiser back then £1.29, couple of weeks ago £3.80. It's all gone up to unaffordable levels 😏

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OldManChino@reddit

Certainly not wrong about that... i started smoking back in the early 2000's and £2 would by a 12.5 gram pouch and green rizla. You can't buy 12.5 now, but halving the cost of 25g and rizla now is about £15. That £2 adjusted for inflation now is £3.84

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

Yeah, probably a bit unfair reflecting on a general inflation figure when pretty much the whole "going out" thing is more affected by alcohol/tobacco/fuel duty and energy costs. And I miss 12.5g pouches! I switched to baccy when the cost of 20 Benson golds hit a fiver a pack. I thought back then that was outrageous, oh boy, little did I know 😂

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g0_west@reddit

the 10g three-in-one packs for like £3 were when we peaked as a country

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Bunister@reddit

You've reminded me of Amber Leaf, when it came in a box with a pack of skins included.

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MoonMouse5@reddit

Ironically, you're probably right about this as well

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g0_west@reddit

Tobacco has been taxed specifically to discourage people from smoking though so it's a bit different

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MoonMouse5@reddit

A lot of the cost for alcohol and tobacco is due to tax

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captainfishpie@reddit

That's a very precise number 🤣

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Successful_Pie779@reddit

hello how are you

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OreoSpamBurger@reddit

Late 90s where i was you could still go out and get smashed for a tenner...probably walking home with no kebab, though!

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peteyourdoom@reddit

Always stopped for the cheesy chips

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OreoSpamBurger@reddit

Cheesy chips AND gravy if i was feeling flush that weekend.

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peteyourdoom@reddit

That's such a North East thing

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

Yeah, if you lived round the corner from a spoons you could easily get smashed at like a pound a pint! Even in outer London entry to the local club was only a fiver and you got two free drinks tokens with that as well!!

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NondescriptHaggard@reddit

I mean £10 in 1999 is roughly equivalent to £20 in today's cash, I think most people could get pissed at spoons for £20. In my local, I can get 10 pints of Stowford Press for that - just checked on the app.

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phatboi23@reddit

> I think most people could get pissed at spoons for £20. In my local, I can get 10 pints of Stowford Press for that - just checked on the app. was gonna say, my local is £1.99 for stowford haha

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wendling2000@reddit

Minimum wage was 4.25

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EmojiRepliesToRats@reddit

> 40 quid doesn't even last a few hours in spoons these days with a few rounds. This really depends on what you're drinking. If you're happy with a below-average beer in a somewhat rough spoons then £40 can get you 20 pints.

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

Yeah I have to admit, being a bit of a more "seasoned" person these days, an afternoon in spoons going through a load of (surprisingly good for my local one!) cask ales at £1.99 a pint is definitely a good afternoon out! There's always some interesting people watching to do as well 😂😂 If money were no issue it would be a more fancy craft ale pub or traditional boozer, but at £7 a pint on average... That's a once a month thing these days.

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Kcufasu@reddit

It's funny because people will be massive snobs about spoons where you can actually get decent local beer at low prices then go spend £7 on some bog standard lager next door

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

I have to hold my hands up, some of the spoons beer festivals have been fantastic. There's been some absolutely excellent cask ales on, some great meet the brewer nights... And I haven't once had what I would describe as a "terrible pint" (yeah there's been a few end of barrel, or just on the turn, jobs... But that happens everywhere). Spoons it what it is, the McDonalds of pubs. And sometimes, it can actually be pretty good!

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jam1599@reddit

£40 in 1995 is the equivalent of £83 today.

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Kcufasu@reddit

Which is irrelevant to the average person who's looking at the wage they're earning

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jonnyshowbiz@reddit

So true went for a beer Patrick's day the village local £6.90 wtf was £6.50 the other week, had 2 pints came home.

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peteyourdoom@reddit

50p single vodkas, £1 a pint - was a lot easier then

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LostHumanFishPerson@reddit

When I was at uni in Aberystwyth I’d head out with £10 and come back with £3

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Dnny10bns@reddit

Depends what you're drinking, my local spoons sells stowford cider for £2 a pint. It's ace. Shame the bus costs £6 getting there and back. That used to be £4. I could do it on £10 if I wanted a few away from home.

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k987654321@reddit

This is really sad. I (2005-2009ish) used to go out with mates like 3 nights a week. £20-30 each time. What a time. I’m nearly 40 and even if I wanted to now, I could never afford to.

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double-happiness@reddit

When I started drinking in pubs aged 16 (1988) I could get 3 pints and a shot of Southern Comfort for my £5 pocket money. IIRC I would typically even have enough left over for a mini cigar too.

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Dabonthebees420@reddit

Even in the early-mid 2010s it was still much cheaper than today. £20 would do me a messy night at Spoons, an amber leaf 3 in 1, cheesy chips and a taxi on the way home. These days you'll be lucky if £20 covers a round let alone a whole night.

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VampyrByte@reddit

To be fair, £40 in 2000 is more like £80 quid today.

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Fando1234@reddit

God those really were the days weren't they.

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

May happy, hazy, memories mate! Great music back then too!! 😂

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Fando1234@reddit

I know every generation say it was 'better back in my day'. But given how fucked the world is, I think it genuinely was just flat out better back then.

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Pure_Breadfruit8219@reddit

We got the peak

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asphytotalxtc@reddit

I do agree, I'm still pretty active in the nightlife scene despite being well into my 40s (we still run a fairly large rave event in Milton Keynes twice a year). Also totally agree there's a bit of rose tinted glasses involved too but having a night out in the same place I used to in my teens/early 20s recently (for old times sake) a few weekends ago... Man. It was DEAD. That end of the high street back in 2000 was like f**king mini Ibiza!! 😂😂

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Dnny10bns@reddit

Like waking up to your mate shaking you after you'd left the front door open to their place and decided to crash out on their neighbours hedgerow at 1am? Ah, memories. 🤣🤣

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SilverOrganization71@reddit

I used to be free... find a 7/11 that has an 80yo working at 10pm and a big jacket.

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RandyDandyVlogs@reddit

Whenever I go out it’s easily a £200 night, and that’s not even going all out. Unfortunately it’s not sustainable to go on benders anymore, it’s still do-able occasionally though

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

does this mean they don't do it anymore?

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Parker4815-2@reddit

I 100% promise you they still do it. Reddit likes to think that young people are just staying in on Friday nights playing DnD. As a collective, people are still doing the same shit they were doing years ago.

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stowgood@reddit

then why have so many pubs and clubs closed? It must be less?

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Parker4815-2@reddit

Broadly speaking, it might be less. But thats not what OP was asking me.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

okay, phew :)

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GooseMan1515@reddit

To the relief of kebab shop boss men the country over

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cm-cfc@reddit

Have you seen Luke Littler, the youth are still partaking

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Wino3416@reddit

Littler Youth…

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Parker4815-2@reddit

Okay thats enough reddit for today...

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Silent_Frosting_442@reddit

Absolutely they do. This 'gen z are teetotalers' stuff sounds like bollocks to me. However, I wouldn't be surprised if they don't do it *as much*

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Fando1234@reddit

>young people are just staying in on Friday nights playing DnD. It's just cos that's what we're all doing.

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spelan1@reddit

They still do it, but the data shows (yes, there is [data](https://ntia.co.uk/why-young-people-are-going-out-less-ntia-study-reveals-economic-struggles-safety-concerns-and-transport-barriers-stifling-nightlife/) on this) that they're doing it less than previous generations.

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DeCyantist@reddit

Drinking is going down for other reasons than money. Health and wellness are a lot more in vogue these days.

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FadeNality@reddit

Yes, but less intense and less often. No such thing as a cheap night out anymore so you have less sadly

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DiscoChikkin@reddit

Yep, back in the day you could wake up flecked with vomit with a bleeding arsehole and a trouser full of shit in a public park and no-one batted an eyelid as it was all just part of a standard Friday night. Nowadays someone burps and its Tiktokked to millions.

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TTNNBB2023@reddit

> benders, like everything else, are much more expensive than 20-40 years ago. Drugs are cheaper, sometimes a lot cheaper, relatively speaking, so in the 90s a pill might cost £!5 and contain 100mg of MDMA whereas now you can go on the darknet and get 1g of 84% MDMA for £5.

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Yakob793@reddit

I mean yeah but they're hardly being priced out of the market A bag of weed basically costs the same it did 10 years ago and you can still get a crate of beers from the shop for £12 easy

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DiscoChikkin@reddit

Resin, fingering and cider were staples of the 90s youth. It would be a national disgrace on the levels of cheese importation if it were no longer the case.

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captaincracksparra@reddit

MD20/20, solid and pills… robbing a car rallying it all over the midlands doing drops until it’s fucked burn it out and robbing another… countless police chases on the crosser off my head those were the days 😎

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killy_321@reddit

The less harmful to others mischief was what we were aiming for chief.

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captaincracksparra@reddit

You are you’re environment is all I’m gonna say

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x3tx3t@reddit

You're so cool. Can I be you?

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Trebus@reddit

You probably don't. Some interesting history there.

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Reppin-LDN@reddit

Av it large mush

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BringTheRawr@reddit

This isn't what people were describing and it's shameful behaviour. Your teenage years are to be messy, not to notice cars and deprive families of critical assets.

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theevildjinn@reddit

Every t-shirt or hoodie that I owned ended up with lots of little burn holes down the front, to explain to my mum.

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Hamsternoir@reddit

Don't know what they were in your neck of the woods but we called them Blim Burns, no idea why but we did and a quick search shows up as acceptable slang.

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rectal_warrior@reddit

From the wise philosophers GLS's song "soap bar" Burnt a new hole in my tracksuit today Smokin' soap bar without an ashtray Red hot nylon drippin' on my skin I ripped the fucker off And threw it in the bin Soap bar's cheap and so's my clothes They gotta be coz of all the fuckin' holes It tastes like shit and it makes you cough And it's the fuckin' rubber innit, that gets you off Last night I went out drivin' in my car I sparked up a fat spliff of fuckin' soap bar A blim burn burnt right down to my dick And while I was distracted I fuckin' crashed in To a brick wall, the car was fuckin' battered The bonnet flipped up and the windscreen shattered You're better off smokin' the green instead Coz it don't blim burn an' it's better for your head

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Successful_Pie779@reddit

hello how are you.......Im interested in accounts

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theevildjinn@reddit

Hot rock burns, or "hotties". Which now means something completely different.

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jaynoj@reddit

We called them "blimps", for some reason.

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not-suspicious@reddit

Fingering really shouldn't do that.

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kh_ram@reddit

How would you get fingers in without the finger holes.

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SweetTechnical311@reddit

yeah i think he was going too fast

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Space-manatee@reddit

Not with that attitude

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VodkaMargarine@reddit

We import two thirds of our fingering. That. Is. A. Disgrace.

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Zal_17@reddit

They come over 'ere on boats, taking ar jobs and fingering ar birds

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Space-manatee@reddit

Pork markets!

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Cyb3rd31ic_Citiz3n@reddit

Thank you kind internet stranger. I had almost forgotten Lis Truss stupid face when she announced them Chinese pork markets. HAHAHAHA! 🤣 And now I will never be able to finger a bird on a park bench ever again. 😐

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Dependent_One6034@reddit

For the uninitiated. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srHNcNoEJ9g

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Generalspooda@reddit

Not with that attitude i helped a guy do up a bus and on its first journey we had a party and i caught him fingerblasting his misses on a park bench They were both in the late 50s It was a sore eyes for sights haha

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No-Nefariousness9539@reddit

“PORK markets 😃😃😃😃”

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Slartibartfast39@reddit

45 days. This will be a pub quiz question

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Trebus@reddit

*In December, I’ll be in Beijing, opening up new....* No. No, I think I'll stop there.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

cracking up at this comment, so true ahaha <3

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Successful_Pie779@reddit

hello ...wanna be friends

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killy_321@reddit

Don't they all do streaming and finger themselves as it's safer these days? Some dodgy gangs out there some people say.

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Wino3416@reddit

‘Resin, fingering and cider’ is my favourite Laurie Lee book.

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ByEthanFox@reddit

I get the impression kids do this a lot less because of smartphones; like they're concerned they'll do something that'll get filmed and sent around the other kids at school.

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Braylien@reddit

Yeah I would have totally hated that when I was a kid, I was already socially anxious as it was.

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CommunicationNew4127@reddit

Massively. London warehouse/underground party scene is thriving and my friends regularly come home from afters at midday after going out the night before. If the djs are good then it’s a nap and back at it on Saturday night.

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Inevitable-Shop9148@reddit

Good question I didn’t actually start drinking until 25

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Lemonz2006@reddit

just did one mate

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m0rganfailure@reddit

Obviously.

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Captaingregor@reddit

I'm 26 and I usually go on one or two benders a year. Only on the Saturdays of bank holiday weekends though because I'm "unc" and it takes too long to recover now.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

what does unc mean?

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Captaingregor@reddit

It's a gen-alpha or young gen-z term for people who are a bit older than them. It comes from the practice in other countries of calling male strangers uncle. Me being 26 (old gen-z) and starting to lose the amazing post-sesh recovery of young people makes me an unc.

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Reasonable_Bat_3583@reddit

As a 16yo the getting drunk in the park or someone’s house is still definitely a thing

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ClassroomDowntown664@reddit

I was born in 03 and I have never had the desire to go on a bender . as the closest thing for me would have been a district exsplore camp when I was 16 whare I was given a can of dark fruits

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

may i ask why? and what do you do with your free time?

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ClassroomDowntown664@reddit

I enjoy spending time in the garden /my shed . watching Motorsport and working on my diroma in my bedroom

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lysergic101@reddit

They swapped the healthier option of a joint in the park for nitrous balloons in the back of a car.

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PhysicsForeign1634@reddit

People smoking joints seems to be a more solitary, relaxing thing. Nowadays you'll go for a walk and in a park, or out in the woods or just walking along on their own, you'll find one individual, stinking of dope, trying to walk off their dismay at the state of the world.

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PintCEm17@reddit

No Less. Nightclubs are struggling

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Affectionate-Long-10@reddit

Some.

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Boring-Print9058@reddit

I was asking my sister about this just the other day, regarding my niece and nephew, who are both ridiculous gym bunnies. "Don't youngsters go out, get absolutely twatted and get involved in a brawl when they've failed to pull after the pubs/clubs close these days?" I doubt that they'll be sharing stories in middle aged about the time they lifted weights or ran on a treadmill. Although, I expect many can't afford it, which I can fully empathise with.

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JSHU16@reddit

I'm a secondary teacher, some of my kids talk about their 5k run times, bodyfat percentages and skincare routines like mini corporate LinkedIn influencer ghouls and it makes me really sad.

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Ultimate_os@reddit

Social media has ruined all that I think.

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Mister_Loon@reddit

Yes but it's Ketamine and MDMA rather than booze these days. I was shocked to find out how rife Ketamine was until I found out that £15 will get you off your tits for the weekend. Or you could spend that on a double vodka in a club....

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cowbutt6@reddit

>Yes but it's Ketamine and MDMA rather than booze these days. More weed and nitrous for this demographic in these surroundings, I think.

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JSHU16@reddit

It's coke round my way Don't know how they can bloody afford it

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

yeah I can see how Ketamine is so popular - those first few times, its cheap compared to booze, you get spannered, you dont get a comedown, it seems proper wicked. But a few years down the line it really starts fucking people up mentally and physically, seen many friends spiral too bad with it. Really worrying if a lot more kids are doing it now

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MrPatch@reddit

Only time I did ket I spent most of the evening struggling to work out where the floor was. Cant imagine how that'd translate to a fun night out.

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chadgalaxy@reddit

If you do a tiny bit it just makes you feel like you're a nice level of pissed, it's way too easy to do too much and end up totally wonked though.

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MrPatch@reddit

That would have been the problem then, I was offered it by my mate who's never been shy with the depth and breadth of a line

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

little bumps can be really fun, makes you feel all floaty and soft, also lots of small doses can add up to a bit of a trippy experience. But yeah, often a line will just zonk you out and make you disorented. It also makes the vibes on dancefloors really weird, like people are enjoying the K in their own head, but to everyone else its like trying to dance with zombies. Also, adding to my previous comment, tolerance grows soooo quickly, those little bumps quickly turn into big lines and before you know it you're doing a whole gram at once, so its no longer cheap

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baldeagle1991@reddit

Tbh the two times I tried it, I K-holed both times. Last time it was a single small line. I think I'm just not built for it 😂

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Nicename19@reddit

That's not a bender. A bender is going out in Friday and coming home Sunday.

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Max1357913@reddit

In my experience, the first one no, but at uni, the second one absolutely yes.

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londongas@reddit

They sit in cars and do nitrous Or ket and chill at home

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spacetimebear@reddit

Can they afford to now?

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Foreskin_Ad9356@reddit

We dont "afford" it. We steal it

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

just seen two litres of white ace cider is now £4.99! Was £1.99 when I was a kid! fuming

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kingceegee@reddit

£1.99 with an extra litre thrown in for free!

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ExoticMangoz@reddit

In a word, yes.

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spelan1@reddit

In more than a word, [yes, but also no.](https://ntia.co.uk/why-young-people-are-going-out-less-ntia-study-reveals-economic-struggles-safety-concerns-and-transport-barriers-stifling-nightlife/)

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DufflessMoe@reddit

A bottle of white lightning is still relatively cheap

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Foreskin_Ad9356@reddit

Gonna be doing it on saturday meself, yep

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Pale_Satisfaction520@reddit

I think it kinda stopped when genz became the legal drinking age. Im millennial and even i remember standing outside a shop trying to get someone to buy me some baccy. The going up to the park and getting as stoned as possible or going for a night out and waking up in some random person’s house with a shoe missing some random glow stick and a heavy craving for something greasy

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vox_libero_girl@reddit

With what money

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Certain_Pineapple_73@reddit

Yes. As a uni student everyone goes out at least twice a week, probably more. And everyone drinks cider in a field and coughs up their lungs attempting to smoke at 15.

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OhLookSquirrels@reddit

> And everyone drinks cider in a field and coughs up their lungs attempting to smoke at 15. Not quite everyone. Some of us were far too square for that kind of thing.

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Bolly_Eggs@reddit

I'm almost 40 and I still do

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

same lol

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Bolly_Eggs@reddit

We few, we happy few

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kitkatkala@reddit

I do xx

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knots_cycle@reddit

Is a night out a bender?

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Live-Cut-5991@reddit

‘£10 and all your drinks free’ Early 2000s

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Plsreadmee@reddit

21 and absolutely we do. We’re a dying breed. Many just want to be in bed for 8pm or run a marathon - no judgement though, I respect it.

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Kiwizoo@reddit

I was brought up on a fairly rough house estate and my elderly Mum still lives there. And yes, it still goes on, but there are some differences to when I was hanging around. The age for starters. There’s a few packs of *really* young kids - 13 ish - who smoke all sorts of weird shit now and take pills (‘street opioids’ according to the local community centre) and get *completely* obliterated. They’re either sitting around unable to speak, or largely incoherent with eyes rolling around their head. I dunno it feels different, I wonder if they even remember having a good time. Back in the day it was all about scoring a wee bit of hash and a bottle of Bucky, and hoping to cop a feel with someone you fancied at some point haha! Good times.

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Cheap-Rate-8996@reddit

Where the fuck are your parents? I don't care what your economic stances are, there's zero excuse for that level of deadbeat parenting

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

ah man thats scary about the kids on weird pills :(

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LunaWabohu@reddit

I do most weekends

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fisothemes@reddit

Forget about that mediocre shoes and shirts cost £100 now. The next trend will be casual hiker wear since those are now the only durable clothing that don't break the bank

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roadtrip1414@reddit

those aren't 'benders'

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

fine maybe i worded it wrong, but you know what im getting at

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Suspicious_Gift_67@reddit

Half the people in these comment sections think that they were the most unruly kids ever cause they had a couple of beers in the park and a fag when they were young, you should see what the people nowadays are getting up to. You wouldn’t fucking believe it 😂 You lot did it out in the open cause phones and cameras weren’t as popular nowadays it’s all behind closed doors or tucked out the way more

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Bumble072@reddit

Clearly "people nowadays" aren't doing much, judging by replies.

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Suspicious_Gift_67@reddit

Maybe only a minority were like me and my mates. Also fear of digital footprint is real.

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Suspicious_Gift_67@reddit

As a 24-year-old male, I can report that we do go on benders but we don’t drink alcohol like you guys used to. We smash a Gary in a warehouse dancing to DNB or tech all night long. Most young people now use MDMA and instead of alcohol. You can get a pill for a fiver and you’ll be sound all night £5 doesn’t even get you one beer nowadays. Plus, you’ll end up hugging your mates telling him how much you love each other instead of getting in a scrap over something stupid.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

very fair and very 90s :-D love you still call em garys too <3

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Suspicious_Gift_67@reddit

Speedy Gary’s 👍🏼

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sf91205@reddit

As a 20 year-old, I can confirm that as a teen we did in fact drink and smoke joints on parks😂

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

phew :)

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sf91205@reddit

I live in a small town not a city though so it was never long until the police come to clear us off while checking our bottles for alcohol🤣

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MrPatch@reddit

Is there not a sketchy bit of semi wilderness with a weird nickname all the kids know (the lows was ours) where you can disappear to?

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faa19@reddit

Or the local pub that served the 15-17 year olds and everyone turned a blind eye too because it kept them under adult supervision? There also used to be a lot more pubs when I was younger...

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MrPatch@reddit

We had the pub where it was old men out front, half the sixth form out back. Seems mad they got away with it but I guess the 90s were a different time

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sf91205@reddit

Help, I thought it was just my town that had a sketchy bit of wilderness that had a nickname 😂 Ours was a stretch of woodland and the police would come to woods every single Saturday to crash the party. When I was growing up it was around the time Facebook local fb groups started to take off so you would always have someone on the local group put up a post to say underage kids were drinking which made it a lot harder to get away with😅

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NoContract1090@reddit

What the actual fuck is wrong with people? Oh no some kids are having fun, best report them. Absolute cunts

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Reetgeist@reddit

The problem is that the coppers used to drink in the same place so they would know where to look :)

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double-happiness@reddit

When I was a teen there was a sketchy squat where you could sometimes buy mushies, known as *the Punk Palace*.

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WastelandOfConfusion@reddit

You should have said ‘yes it’s alcohol’ and got them to chase you around the field for giggles.

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sf91205@reddit

They’d be sniffing our bottles of ‘Coke’ that were 75% voldka 25% coke cola 😆

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

ah yeah that was always the same for me growing up in a small town!

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mememaster8427@reddit

I'm nearly 21 and I can count the amount of times I've been out drinking on one hand. That being said, I think I am definitely an atypical case.

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HumbleUK@reddit

A lot just doom scroll and tik tok brain rot. Unfortunately

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HumbleUK@reddit

Well wouldn’t call it a fact as such but with the amount of young folk glued to phones I’d guess it’s part of the reason man

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

do you know this for a fact though?

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moneydazza@reddit

If by young people you’re including 43 year old married men. Yes we do 😉

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

Teens still drink on the local park in the evenings. Most young adults can’t afford a weekend bender now theres no silly drinks offers, you are lucky to find anywhere doing £1 a shot nowadays

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Spid1@reddit

That's usually the chavs with cider in a local park tbf

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charlierc@reddit

You can even get Coke for £1 in most pubs now. Hell in London last weekend, I got charged £3.20 for a lime and soda, which - wow. I know it's London but come on

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MeboldRice@reddit

club where i live does £1-£1.50 jägers on their event nights

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

But how much is entry and predrinks and the taxi home?

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MeboldRice@reddit

tbf entry is normally around £5-£10 maybe £15, pre drinks arent too much since some of my friends are lightweights, and taxi is £10-£15 maybe?

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

And these young adults who earn £7.55 per hour for a few hours work a week because they are still in education have to work out if it’s worth it for a night out a lot of them decide not too

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MeboldRice@reddit

i see what you mean but the majority of people in that club are either in debt to uni, or underage

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dinkidoo7693@reddit

A lot of people work alongside their uni studies so they can afford to socialise.

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MeboldRice@reddit

oh yeah that’s fair enough

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TheArkansasChuggabug@reddit

Used to be a place near where I'd live, a bar called Cerveza down and almost club strip in the town that dod 50p Jagerbombs before 12. Obviously it was rammed. Used to buy 10 a time when I went to the bar so I didn't have to go back. Good old days those. Was earning £3.48 an hour back then (first job, minimum wage pre-18, yes I was under-age). Things were good.

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mojomonkey18@reddit

You just reminded me of £1 tequila shots in my local nightclub. It’s been years, and I can still Taste the cheap booze. And vomit.

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N0omi@reddit

Mid 30s and genuinely mourning the loss of the proper bender. Used to head out on a Friday with about thirty quid, somehow make it last until Sunday, and wake up Monday morning with a kebab wrapper stuck to my face and absolutely no idea how I got home. Now I have two pints on a Saturday afternoon and I'm in bed by 9 with heartburn wondering if I should switch to decaf. The spirit is willing but the body has filed a formal complaint. My younger cousins still go out but it's a completely different vibe. They'll pre-drink at someone's flat for three hours, go out for about ninety minutes, take roughly four hundred photos for Instagram, and then get an Uber home. The idea of just wandering around town at 3am looking for a chip shop that's still open seems to be a lost art.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

i feel you mate <3

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Bumble072@reddit

I'd imagine going out now is staring at your phone for 3 hours while high on something. No dancing, no conversation.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

you imagine, but you dont know do you? so boring when redditors spread false narratives like this coz its just what they assume young people are into. I'd be interested to know why you assume this?

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Bumble072@reddit

I think young people have pretty strong evidence of the dangers of abuse of stuff like alcohol and casual drugs. More than in the past. Also the cost of going out is an obvious factor. Add to the fact widespread addiction to phone use. I dunno, I mean I’ve read accounts from young people describing what a night out is like these days, seems to line up.

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Fufflewaffle@reddit

I was walking my dog yesterday I'm the park near the college I used to go to. About 40 kids were all hanging around the skate park, blasting music from a speaker, drinking fanta and vodka from clear cups, and smoking weed. The sun was out, it was a beautiful day. I was actually really happy to see young people out and enjoying themselves, socializing and being loud. I'm only 27 but it took me back and reminded me it's not all doom and gloom.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

glorious :)

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lovedvirtually@reddit

Yes they do. I know it might be a bit of a revelation for this crowd but social activities like this are indeed still taking place if you have friends

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

glad to hear it!

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illiteratemad@reddit

Go to any field in the UK on a Friday night and you’ll see kids doing this

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

good :)

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TheMalsh@reddit

Take it from me, a recently turned 26 year old living in London. Covid ruined it. Not trying to be one of those “Blame Covid” people, but prior to it, me and my mates were going out weekly Fri - Sun. It was clubbing or pubbing. Covid then hit in our going out prime, if you will, and it just put a massive spanner in the works. In my group of 6, 2 pretty much never go out, 2 would do every now and again and I was one of the 2 who went out a lot after, but have slowed down massively. People just got used to staying in and saving money. Even me, I was going out loads a few years back but have recently cut down to once every 2-3 weeks. I see my older cousins, who were still doing benders in there 30s and it just baffles me. Now I much prefer going out at 4 PM, being back by 10 PM and waking up and feeling good the next day. With the above being said, I think people have recently became alot more conscious of how they look etc and not going out, well going out drinking that is, massively impacts that. You’d be surprised and how many people think the same.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

fair re covid ruining things, i agree. I'm interested about the people becoming more concious of how they look so not drinking, an sde-effeect of social media i should reckon?

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Bounty_drillah@reddit

Yeah I live in a pretty studenty area and see it often. I get the impression that there's more drugs involved and slightly less drink. People younger than that smoke weed in the park. When I was in Uni it was booze first and foremost. Coke was expensive and harder to comeby than it is today. Ketamine and weed are about the same. Pills went through a drought, then suddenly made a comeback and you could get decent MDMA on Silk Road.

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Real-Box-7144@reddit

My kid who’s 16 goes out and plays football with his mates over the Astro or goes to the city for food and shopping. Nothing like I did at his age but I’m grateful about it 😂

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FudgeVillas@reddit

Yeah that’s the kind of thing I used to tell my parents I was doing too 😉

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trainpk85@reddit

My kid probably would if she could but she deviated like 18ft from the track on her walk home on Tuesday and life 360 alerted me so I called her to check what was going on. Apparently she was sitting on a bench to have a chat and enjoy the sun. I wouldn’t mind but I didn’t even ask her to be on the app. She asked me if we could be on it because she feels like I go to get my nails and eyebrows done without her too often and she’s sick of me going to restaurants without her so SHE WAS TRACKING ME!! She hasn’t clicked that when I want a cheeky manicure without her, I just leave my phone at home and she’s still none the wiser.

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NoContract1090@reddit

Why did you even feel the need to call her? My mum was like this when I was like 11-12 which just led to me putting my phone on silent and ignoring everything when I was 14-18 Actually that's another good question, what would you do if you called her 2 or 3 times and it rang off each time? Just let teens be teens

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trainpk85@reddit

My phone notifies me if the car she is in brakes suddenly. It’s just instinct to check she’s ok. I don’t want her to come back or anything. I just wanted to know if everything was ok since she deviated. She has the option to not share her location. She asked for it to be turned on. I only have the app because I have an Amazon tile on my car keys as I’m a nightmare for losing them and she asked if she could join my group on the app.

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Real-Box-7144@reddit

😳 😂

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CrazyMike419@reddit

When you were up to no good... what did you tall your parents? Lol. Youre probably falling for the same tricks you used to pull lol

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SnooHabits8484@reddit

Nah the kids have gone wholesome

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

ahahahah

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ydktbh@reddit

wait till he's 18

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lukusmaca@reddit

lol that’s what you think 😂

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Arnoave@reddit

Yeah I spent a lot of time at the skatepark myself, even had my own board to ride there and back 😉

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Joshgg13@reddit

It costs about 70% of my hourly wage to buy a single pint

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shaunface@reddit

There's a massive scale here though between the "sitting on park bench with a joint" and the "stagger home after 2 days"..I think they do the former but I think the latter is rarer given the widescale commercialisation and death of club culture.

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LockeddownFFS@reddit

The only ones who really know what's going on are the teenagers. Before covid, I noticed a lot of young people not heading out until post 11pm, whereas my pre-drinking as a lad would start by 6pm, in pub by eight. Shorter night means lower costs I suppose. People here talking about cheap ale in Spoons, but not many 18 year olds want to spend their entire Sat night drinking guest ales with auld alkies. Their best bet are lively bars that still do £5 doubles supplied by industrial estate distilleries. I still have a 'what!' moment when a round of shots costs £30, but then I'm an old sod.

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ReasonableCourse1679@reddit

I think most of us just go to Aldi or something.

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dreadwitch@reddit

Yes lol there will be a group of teenagers at the back of the shops on Friday night, some will be round the front asking if someone will buy their rizlas and vapes. I don't really see them drinking (unless they've found a way to hide it) but they're all smoking spliffs. There's kids that hang round in the park and they drink, then smash up the swings. I'd rather the stoner kids at the shops.

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doorknockiopened@reddit

Do fish still swim?

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aerithgetskilled@reddit

20 and at uni. Yes, when i can afford it every now and again 😅

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Racing_Fox@reddit

I don’t, I never really enjoyed it It always sounds like fun, but in reality it’s just a very expensive way to forget everything and wake up feeling like shit, full of regret unable to do anything for 50% of your weekend. Bad deal imo

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HonkersTim@reddit

I'm in my 50s and going out for a bender was never a big thing in my social group. We'd go to a pub and a club every Friday night, but it was rare that anyone would get wasted. Most of us were 2, 3 maybe 4 pints and that was it. This whole thread is like listening to a bunch of aging alcoholics.

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revolut1onname@reddit

My 17yo nephew came back from a friend's house party recently still in his t-shirt, but had swapped his jeans for a skirt, tights and high heels. He was so drunk he could barely walk but had sick all over the shoes so my sister was hesitant to help taking them off. He proceeded to fall asleep on the living room floor, wake up with a stinking hangover and a cut on his chin. Took him a few minutes to remember he'd tried to do the worm the night before. Makes me so proud.

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charlierc@reddit

And people say the young people these days weren't partying like it's 1999

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

Brilliant ahahah

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Kickkickkarl@reddit

I doubt they would be allowed to call it a "bender" these days as it's non pc.

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No_Ease7557@reddit

My son was going out 'for food' to Wetherspoons and maybe 1-2 pints with his friends at aged 18 -20 on a Saturday night and home by 9pm. Meanwhile, I'm remembering my mate sitting in the middle of the road at 2am and putting a full kebab upside down on his head and sitting wearing it like a hat with until the chilli sauce got to his eyes and he's thrashing around screaming, spraying meat everywhere.

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charlierc@reddit

Precious memories one and all

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kylehyde84@reddit

Genuinely just guffawed at this 😂

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PaulJMacD@reddit

Me too 😂

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Raidenuk@reddit

Work with a few 18 -25 year olds and none of them drink 60% of them smoke weed. Looks like a joint and a games console is as rock n roll as they are going to get.

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claireycontrary@reddit

In my experience as an A&E nurse, they now go out and smash a tonne of ketamine.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

yeah ive seen it at raves :( scary some are ending up in A&E though - what are the reasons for going A&E? getting too wonky and falling over or friends worrying when they k-hole or more worrying stuff like seizures?

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claireycontrary@reddit

Sometimes friends worried when they’re in a K-hole, sometimes seizures, sometimes found in the street by passers-by and taken to hospital as a place of safety.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

oh thats sad kids are left on their own on the street, the golden rule is never leave a mate!!!! I dread to think the effects in a few years of kids doing K now. I've seen many friends fuck up their lives on it, let alone their bodies :(

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EndearingSobriquet@reddit

You could say the same about booze, it's just been normalised to ignore the risks.

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MasterpieceWaste3766@reddit

The key is to neck a load of cans before you leave the house so you don't need to spend so much in the pub. Sometimes pre drinks in the kitchen is the best part of the night. You get to listen to your favourite music and nothing stupid has happened yet.

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visionsinthepast@reddit

as a 16 year old - yes and no. entirely depends who you hang out with🤣

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XmasRights@reddit

In THIS economy?!

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Belterhaze31@reddit

Oh god yeah, worse than ever I’d say Cocaines never been so cheap, ketamine is everywhere and your a little bit mental doing mdma at the after but no one’s too fussed really. Then you’ve got the pink stuff which is just no man’s land. Then a few dodgy Indian benzodiazepines to get you off to sleep after 43 hours of absolute terror

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JohnCasey3306@reddit

Can they afford to?? Bar prices are ridiculous nowadays

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ResolveEmergency863@reddit

8 bottles of reef or 8 cans for about 7 quid and sitting in a damp field was the highlight of my week at 16/17 years old.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

ah man Reef! it was so yummy and went down so well

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ResolveEmergency863@reddit

They brought it back out again a year or 2 ago but it wasnt the same. I think I get heartburn too much for Reef these days anyway :D

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josh5676543@reddit

You can get it in home bargains for about 79p a bottle.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

ahaha i feeeeel you!

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charliedbtaylor@reddit

Absolutely! Lots of people don’t like drinking or getting wasted but there are still more than enough of us who wanna get fucked up for days on end and dance for hours that we have no problems! The money thing is real but if you’re clever and skint you can have a great night out with minimal spending. For me, I drink a shit ton at home, then bring loads of booze with me as we go to different bars, and I pop out the bars to where I stashed it all to top myself up. If you’re careful, you can have a big one and only pay for cheap supermarket booze and the club entry fee 🔥

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

That’s the way to do it 😁 I made a booze bra for this purpose when I was younger to smuggle booze in, looked like I had big jubblies when in fact it was a litre of vodka in capri sun pouches in my bra hehehehe

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charliedbtaylor@reddit

That’s legendary! Only problem is it might hinder your ability to dance if you’ve got a litre strapped to your chest

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DeifniteProfessional@reddit

It's fucking expensive, but actually yeah - just last night I was down the pub and there were plenty of people in their mid 20s somewhat pissed, admittedly the local uni is a very expensive posh place where all the rich kids go so I guess they can afford it!

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stowgood@reddit

I remember I had a massive night out when I was a teenager and spent £120 I was buying rounds of shots and all sorts. That would ruin me forever now as adult working full time.

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not1or2@reddit

Rarely see kids drinking in parks etc now. All seem to be either at home scared to interact in real life or they’re smoking substances walking around looking like a mong and stinking.

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Nipplecunt@reddit

Yes they do. Not everyone is the same though. People do different things from each other.

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Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

It’s never been normal to smoke joints

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Harrry-Otter@reddit

Walk around a university campus and it won’t take you long to find the smell of cannabis.

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Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

The university needs to take action then.

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nineteenthly@reddit

You're making it sound like just because it's a criminal offence, it's automatically wrong. How do you feel about smoking tobacco, drinking alcohol and caffeine? All questionably healthy or very unhealthy but all legal and very normalised. What's distinctive about Cannabis?

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Sea-Truth3636@reddit

They fell for the anti drug properganda, they truly believe that smoking a J on a Saturday night is 10x worse for you then getting shitface drunk all of the time.

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eluuu@reddit

Give your head a wobble

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Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

You need to give your head a wobble. It’s illegal.

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pervertsage@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/x562hof6fzpg1.jpeg?width=1400&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9e6d706109101cc0e8ec3ec819c770cbd95e8af5

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ThereAndFapAgain2@reddit

Mate, the amount of drugs people are taking at uni is insane, weed is basically the last thing people should be worried about.

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Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

And they wonder why nobody wants to employ them.

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nineteenthly@reddit

The increase in the number of graduates has decreased their employability. Considering how many people have used Cannabis, I can't see it being a factor in whether someone wants to give them a job.

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ThereAndFapAgain2@reddit

Eh, drugs can be fun and part of being at uni is having fun before a life of work. Nothing wrong with that really, as long as people are careful not to take it too far.

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Harrry-Otter@reddit

I think it’s been such a common occurrence for the last 50 years that nobody, including the police, give a shit anymore.

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Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

Police and employers do take action on drug use.

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Harrry-Otter@reddit

Only when it’s relevant generally. The police will come and nick you and you can lose your job if you’re unable to work because you’re high or if you’re committing some other crime while high. If you’re sat minding your own business on your own balcony smoking a joint, nobody is going to arrest you.

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Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

You can also fail a works drugs test. I’ve seen many of those.

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Harrry-Otter@reddit

Few jobs in the U.K. have those though, unless there’s a very good reason like you’re a pilot or you work with heavy machinery.

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Maleficent-Win-6520@reddit

You’ll be surprised. I’ve worked in construction, education and social housing. I’ve known four who have been dismissed.

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Harrry-Otter@reddit

Fair enough, can’t say I’ve ever been drug tested and the one person I even know who has is a pilot.

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QuizzicalSquid7@reddit

Maybe if you work in heavy machinery. The only way jobs in the city give a shit about drugs is if it affects your performance or you get arrested for it, and on the latter even then it doesn’t always cost you the job. This isn’t the 80s anymore.

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dbxp@reddit

Universities don't enforce laws

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O_C_Demon@reddit

Lol

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ExoticMangoz@reddit

To be fair that doesn’t exactly evidence it being common, just that it exists in unknown numbers. Compared to drinking, which is more common than being sober at a university (anecdotally based on my knowledge of a fairly large subset representative of a whole uni), it could therefore be seen as not normal, in the sense that something is normal because it is the standard held view, belief, or practice.

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tmr89@reddit

https://preview.redd.it/r8rplsdc7zpg1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fefca46477df513f3b2d5699c4aaf9658c58e688

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nineteenthly@reddit

Maybe you've hung out with different people than I did when I was of an age to do that, but it really was, and I know people now in their seventies who smoke hash still. I also think it probably still is judging by the smell of various places around town. People also smoke it for things like pain relief, not just recreationally.

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Illustrious-Rice3434@reddit

Ye its pretty normal tbh. Lot of teens and adults do it.

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ThereAndFapAgain2@reddit

It's was pretty fucking normal when I was in school.

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bishibashi@reddit

Depends how you define normal, it’s certainly been pretty common for decades though.

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sf91205@reddit

He’s now just made a post on this forum asking why so many people think it’s normal to smoke weed when it’s illegal🫠

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O_C_Demon@reddit

Depends where you grew up and your 'scene' and age. In the 90s punk/metal/indie scene as a 15 year old it was incredibly normal for everyone to be smoking rubbish hash. £7.50 a teenth and £1.30 for 10 Sovereign was cheap as chips (literally in some spots nowadays! 😉)

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

didn't say it was normal did I? But it was a common experience for me growing up

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Terrible-Group-9602@reddit

Too expensive

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Affectionate_You_858@reddit

I live in the NE and its easily a £100 for a night out now. Pints are £5-7, spirits and tenner, cocktails £15 plus. A taxi to go less than 2 miles home is £15. 10 years ago not only were drinks cheap but there was always offers you don't get now, was always 3 trebles vodka and mixers up here for a 5iver, all them deals are gone now. The cost of 4 nights out 10 years ago barely does one night now, it went from being a cheap laugh for youngsters to an expensive treat once in a blue moon

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Certain_Pineapple_73@reddit

What people do on a “night out” is different now. Nobody goes to a normal pub on a big night. You either drink at someone’s home or go to spoons where you can have 10 pints for £35.

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Affectionate_You_858@reddit

So why are the normal pubs busy on a Saturday afternoon/night if everyone's either in spoons or someone's house

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Certain_Pineapple_73@reddit

Young people go to normal pubs for 1-3 drinks before calling it a night or going somewhere else, as a general rule. Also pubs are full of people in this context I wouldn’t call young (mid teens to early 20s).

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Affectionate_You_858@reddit

You never mentioned young people, you said no one goes to normal pubs on a night out. My point was that young people's night out behaviour is driven by costs, they go to spoons or someone's house as its cheap, we didn't have to do that 10+ years ago

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Certain_Pineapple_73@reddit

I didn’t mention young people because I didn’t need to, that’s what the thread is referring to.

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chadgalaxy@reddit

I'm in my 30's but still enjoy a bender on occasion and go out clubbing a fair bit. Several times ended up in the '7am in a strangers kitchen' situation with people in their early 20's so they're defo doing it.

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Stinkinhippy@reddit

Seems to be a bit rarer these days.. but then i'm not hanging around the areas i used to do all of that in as much.. so could just be a case of I just don't see it. That or kids these days don't sit out in the open doing it like we used to.

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UrMomDotCom666@reddit

i'm 19. i didn't do it because i didn't have friends at school. but people used to go out on fields in large groups. if it were smaller groups then they'd just stay at someone's house. people talk about how expensive a night out is but at least in my uni town it was very cheap. we had college bars so a pint was only £2 and a shot was 70p. clubs are all free entry too. so yeah a lot of people went out.

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travelingwhilestupid@reddit

Just go to the Covent Garden after midnight on a Friday or Saturday and see for yourself

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

do young people hang out in covent garden?!

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travelingwhilestupid@reddit

they're younger than I am, so.. yes!

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

colour me intrigued!

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travelingwhilestupid@reddit

hold on, let me clarify and be specific. in central London, people over 18 go out to pubs/bars/nightclubs and stumble home after midnight. it looks like a war zone, with bodies strewn all over the street, people stumbling around, police, etc

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Dancing-Polecat@reddit

Of course they do. This is the British way.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

good, thats what i was hoping!

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griffaliff@reddit

Young? I'm 38 and still indulge in a bender once or twice a year!

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

i mean same, im 40 and still go out a couple times a month, but i was wondering what young people do nowadays

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Accurate-Ad9790@reddit

I have some K Cider and 20/20 if you fancy meeting up :-) The good old days! Tell my Mum I was sleeping around a friend's and they would do the same, end up in a field with a throwaway BBQ.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

those were the days man

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jhefin83@reddit

Liquid nightclub in Cardiff, drink as much as you wanted for £10. As long as you kept your bottle or glass to exchange for another drink once empty you were fine!.

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Tasty-Explanation503@reddit

Youngsters are mostly on ketamine in the clubs now, so the place is full of zombies by 1am. At least those who done mkat back in the day had a bit of energy

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ResolveEmergency863@reddit

Ket in a club would be torturous. Never seemed much of a "going out" drug to me!

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Paul-Ramsden@reddit

Going out on beer and having a small amount at a time is a different animal completely. Those were fun nights out.

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ResolveEmergency863@reddit

I'm guessing I must have just overdone it. either 1 steps forward 3 steps back trying to walk anywhere or in a hole in someone's house :D

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Paul-Ramsden@reddit

I always had a idea of less is more. Doing the same amount in smaller quantities gets you higher whether it's lines or pills. I used to take halves of pills where my mates would take one or two at a time. They'd be slumped in a corner and is be on the dancefloor all night with a big smile on my face

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PillarofSheffield@reddit

Experimented with a bit of ket in my 20s. If you got the balance right you'd get a lovely floaty feeling all night. Had a few bad experiences too and glad ive left that part of my life behind me, but fun at the time. Usually.

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ResolveEmergency863@reddit

I was never very good at balancing I don't think. haha! I think I was always a bit greedy.... All of that was fun back then but wouldn't think to do it now.

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Cunthbert@reddit

Have to mix it with mdma lol

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FR1984007@reddit

They probably do it at home now its cheaper

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LzzrdWzzrd@reddit

Me and my friends never did this growing up, and we just turned 30. It was only ever select groups of teens doing this when we were growing up in the 2010s.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

what did you guys get up to you in your spare time?

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LzzrdWzzrd@reddit

Playing video games, reading, watching TV shows and films. We had a lot of sleepovers. Group study sessions. All girls school btw.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

may i politely ask if you are on the more nerdy end of the social scale?

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LzzrdWzzrd@reddit

Kind of a weird question... I'm personally autistic but the other girls in the group weren't. They did sports stuff as well: badminton, taekwondo, swimming. And most of us played musical instruments too. We just had no interest in drugs, and all of our parents let us drink a little at home with food or whatever so alcohol wasn't this weird and wondrous thing. None of us wanted to be out of our heads.

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Shaper_pmp@reddit

Just FYI, that's a long-winded way of saying "yes, we were". 😉 Exceptions exist, but as a general trend it wasn't generally the geeky, nerdy, high-achiever kids with lots of extracurricular activities who as a group were particularly known for hanging out in parks getting pissed on cider and smoking weed, but plenty of other kids did.

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LzzrdWzzrd@reddit

You're being rude. I didn't have friends outside of that group, but they were in lots of friendship groups and not lacking for social activities. As I said, in our school, it was just select people going on benders and they weren't held in high regard by anyone else.

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UKAOKyay@reddit

I live in an area of London that's full of pubs, bars, clubs and restaurants and can confirm that they still do.

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Chopsticks_Charlie@reddit

I did a couple years back, usually involved far more stimulants tho

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

interesting, how old are you? and what stimulants? instead of booze or as well as?

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GNAL1610@reddit

Clue is in his username

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TheClnl@reddit

Kids sticking chopsticks up their noses instead of pencils? Whatever next?

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amapofdecayingworld@reddit

are you writing a novel or something?

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

lol no, just interested how it is for youngsters nowadays

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TheClnl@reddit

Judging by the number of young uns dressed up in green for Paddies day the other day at 1pm, yes they still go out. Thing is, if isn't a special occasion like that they just go out much later than we used to. I sometimes drink in a very student heavy area and the bars are dead till 10/11pm.

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mrayner9@reddit

From my Gen Z perspective this seems to have shifted to Uni. But some ppl defo did at school, albeit fewer.

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Mertespackers@reddit

Can confirm still go on weekly benders

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MeatWad111@reddit

How old are you?

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Mertespackers@reddit

Old enough

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TheKingOfSpite@reddit

I mean, me and my mates have been going out on benders from 18 till about now as most of us enter our 30s some things never stop being fun (everyone is in a band lol)

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JamOverCream@reddit

Judging by my 16 y/o. Yes, very much so.

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Cunthbert@reddit

Benders are multiple days imo. Cider and a joint was a normal weekday night when I were a lad

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DoctorWhofan789eywim@reddit

In this economy?

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DeCyantist@reddit

I didn’t do this in my life… always seemed like such a waste of time. Hopefully young people have finally realised it as well.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

what did you do instead? I wouldnt say it was a waste of time at all, its all about discovering yourself and life and your friends as a teenager/young adult, and for me, drinking/going out/messing about/experimenting with drugs (and fingering) was a big part of that

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DeCyantist@reddit

I did not grow up in the UK, but moved here later in life, but youths are not dissimilar around the world. I spent my young years mostly around sport events and communities around that. I’ve been doing sports all my life growing up. Sometimes we had house parties, game nights, hanging out with friends while traveling to the beach. I had a period going out at night during my university, but that didn’t last long. I realised early in life that I have rarely seen good outcomes for people who were doing lots of drugs and who’d decided that hanging out drinking at parks was a good idea. I realised that they also didn’t have much between their two ears when they opened their mouth. I’m was always into technology and wanted to develop a career into that space, so the most you’d do people like this was a LAN party.

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toppoyaaaay@reddit

Yeah, but everyone's doing coke now

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Spottyjamie@reddit

Id say no as most places in my city are dead after 10pm even on weekends

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WowThisIsAwkward_@reddit

Yep, but I don’t really do them as much these days. During uni and after graduation while solo travelling, they were a semi-regular thing for me. I’d say I know an even mixture of people who do and don’t. People love to overgeneralise young people and say we’re isolated and prudish, but many of us still continue to go clubbing, have sex and enjoy life as much as we can in this current hellscape.

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TheGreatBatsby@reddit

Can't call them that any more mate. They're called "gays" now.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

hahahaha very good :p

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stumblingthrough1ife@reddit

My teen nephew got caught attempting to sneak out not too long ago…… can’t imagine it was for anything wholesome 😂😂😂. Still a thing 🥳😂🤦🏻‍♀️

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

glad to hear it!

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Frosty_Exit374@reddit

My best friend’s son turned 18 last week and she said kids these days don’t have parties ?!?!?! She said he had a meal with his friends and gf

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Rusty_Tap@reddit

The young people I have the good fortune to observe in the town I live in tend not to be the bender types. They'll come in the pub, have a few, sort out their evenings narcotics transactions and then off they go back to their flats to drink. Not many of them are the staying out type, presumably because it's so expensive now. They'll very occasionally travel into "town" for the late night experience and hunting of young women. There is none of this, 'going out on Friday evening and falling through the front door on a Sunday afternoon' any more.

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EatingCoooolo@reddit

Benders at someone’s house yes or drinking in the park.

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dekker87@reddit

Not like my generation did.

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pocket__cub@reddit

I remember being able to get 3 x Carling bottles or a small number of shots for a fiver in the early 2000s. Even at university, I could afford to go out on the lash around the three jobs I had... Now though? Everything feels more expensive and the wages don't feel like they reflect the cost of living... I do see people out in my city however. It feels like there's less of a drinking culture however and people go out later?

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Therashser@reddit

I look back with fondness to my teenage years of throwing up in the toilet of a Saturday night saying "never again", only to be back again the very next week.

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ArmChairSupporta1892@reddit

I know some of the kids (I say kids but they’re around 16-18) round by me are into MDMA and raves and all that shite.. I only know this because a year or two ago it was in the local news because a kid OD’d on something in a farmers barn, so god knows what the youth actually get up to these days. I just use to get pissed and stoned in the park with my mates and then eventually ended up going to the pub so I could to enjoy match days for the football..

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yiddoboy@reddit

My Grandson 18, goes on the odd bender for sure, usually after playing football on Saturday, then struggling to be home in time for football on Sunday afternoon.

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Suspicious-Job6284@reddit

I'm 25 and I don't go out nearly as much anymore, partially because it's so freaking expensive, but as a teen I was rarely home, frequently drunk and awake til late, and definitely smoking/drinking in parks!

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insomnimax_99@reddit

I’m in my mid twenties, can confirm that when we were teens we used to smoke weed and get drunk in the park after school every now and then.

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Desperate-Coat-8791@reddit (OP)

great :)

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