Ah the joys of public transport. With the advent of the Night Tube on the weekends in London you will meet some very merry souls - something that was once crammed in to the last few tubes on a Friday or Saturday night is now spread eveningly throughout the evening! However, drinking on the tube is prohibited.

While in some of the big US cities like NYC and SF I did notice quite a few day time drinkers in various places. This was in my younger days when I'd stay in cheaper hotels and hostels, so I don't know if it was just the area I was in but even after encountering begging and homelessness during my time in Europe, I remember being shocked by the number of beggars drinking during the day around Union Square in SF.

On the flipside my young adult nephew and nieces came to London for the first time last year and were gleefully encouraged to see all the office workers having lunch time and extended lunch time drinks. On a Monday. On Wednesday we encountered some body who couldn't cope with his intake around 4pm near Leadenhall Markets which they found rather amusing and decided to investigate a working holiday here!!

It is a bit cultural to some extent and it's also what one is exposed to in their normal life. It's like when you read people complaining of noisy hotels in Tripadvisor because of street noise when they are used to to silence of rural life.