Oh, the humanity. :eek:
P.K.B.? ;)

You know, even a lot of people that work 3rd shift have trouble understanding that when we get off work at 7am, it doesn't feel like 7am to us. A go out with a group of friends on Friday mornings and have a couple beers and play some pool. There's this one woman, who works with us, that always makes a comment like, "How can you drink so early?" She also makes a similar comment if I say I'm going to go home and have a hamburger or a pizza or anything that somebody working a normal shift would never think about having at 7am.

A lot of people also need a drink or more before they fly to either calm their nerves or to help them sleep during the flight. Some people need to drink more to relax than others.

I worked the midnight shift for over 10 years. It was not that unusual to have a beer at 7am. With rotating days off I could easily have a few beers before 0900 on Saturday morning, then go to bed.

Never assume.

What is "P.K.B."?

As a often somewhat heavy airline drinker myself (one of the things I love about traveling is that when you enter an airport it doesn't really matter what time it is anymore) I have to say 3 Jack and Cokes on a 57 minute flight is kind of a lot. When I drink at that pace its usually because I want to get drunk (not that 3 Jack and Cokes will quite get me there ;) ). I'm not saying its a bad thing to drink to get drunk (within reason) but its hard to argue that he was just trying to take the edge off/he just was "enjoying" them if he was going at that pace.

I don't deny anybody their right to drink what they like when they like......

But three double measures (assuming the Jack was in those dinky airline bottles) in an hour is IMHO a tad excessive.

Three Jack and Cokes would be just a bit more alcohol than one martini.

Having people "judge" others is only a problem if said others actually give a rats....:D

I don't care in the slightest what people I don't know think of me!

Judge on!!!! ;)

Masticater! Thespian! :)

This disapproval of "breakfast drinking" seems to be mainly an Anglo-American thing. Go to France, Spain and other civilized countries and you will regularly see commuters in a cafe with a brandy or small beer alongside their croissant.

If I have a very early flight I will often have a drink
1) because I can :)
2) It will help me get some sleep on the plane
3) Whatever the local time, it's cocktail hour somewhere in the world. Time zones are relative things - especially in airports.
4) Just to annoy those holier-than-thou types around me

I don't care about others who have a few drinks in the am -- as some have mentioned, he may have crossed many time zones or worked all night -- as long as he doesn't become unruly on the flight, or get behind the wheel of a car when the flight lands.:eek:

As to the general idea of drinking in the morning when it really is your morning -- I have just never understood why/how people do it. If I had my couple of beers or glasses of wine at 9 am, I'd be sound asleep before noon.

I've never understood the allure of drinking in the morning (even in college, when people would wake up at 8am to go to the bars on St. Patrick's Day) but I certainly don't care if others do.

When I was in Spain a few months ago, I remember seeing people having a beer or glass of wine with their pastry at breakfast (as a previous poster mentioned).

Mornings for me are about coffee, coffee, and maybe some tea before more coffee. :)

I've been known to booze a bit beyond my share, though not on planes, because FA's scare me ;). Though I generally don't engage in morning drinking (not because I have anything against a nice a.m. buzz, but because I simply usually don't have the taste for alcohol at that hour), I make absolutely zero assumptions about those who do, and it's not as if I've never partaken in a little bit of liquid breakfast.

Interesting conversation in this thread--reminds me a bit about the phenomenon wherein lots of lawyers and bankers have no idea why someone would NOT want to be a lawyer or banker, and yet many tradesmen have no idea why someone WOULD want to be a lawyer or banker. Different strokes and such...

There are just different drinking cultures around the world. In the UK, northern Europe and the US/Canada the purpose of alcohol is mainly to get you drunk, in southern Europe a single alcoholic drink can be enjoyed in its own right. In other countries, an alcoholic drink is the best way to find liquid safe to drink!

I frequently have a Bloody in the morning on flights.

I'm jealous of the ground service on MCI-MEM though. I rarely get that on UA or AA on flights of any length. (Domestic two-cabin F...)