Originally Posted by
CPMaverick
I think public intoxication is a little worse in Australia than the USA. But no, it isn't typical to see it in the daytime.
I don't think it is correct to say 'Aussies drink a ton during the day'. It's more common than the USA to have a beer at lunch in Australia on a workday with co-workers (Australia is similar to the UK in that sense). But it is not normal to get drunk, or drink 'a ton'.
Funnily enough, only last week, I was talking to an American from Silicon Valley who is a regular at my local and works for some sort of startup. He was commenting on what a culture shock it was when he first went for lunch with his Sydney colleagues and everyone had a beer or glass of wine with their lunch. In most businesses it would be frowned upon to have anything more than 1 or 2 drinks with lunch, however I do know a few guys in sales where the 1980's long lunch never disappeared.
I've worked in London and had plenty of business dealings in Europe and it's certainly a cultural norm to have an alcoholic drink if you're out at lunch with friends/co-workers etc. In America though, we almost always had soft drinks or water. Either works fine for me.