Around here, it really depends if you are in a city cong, or a small town one. The small town I was raised in, almost never served alcohol at gatherings, no matter the size. You also didn't imbibe when going to a restaurant with friends. I even remember my father having to use discretion when having a beer after mowing the lawn. Our ONE bottle of liqueur (yes, you read that right--not even hard spirits) was secreted under the kitchen sink, behind the waste-basket.
Then I moved into the city and OH! what a difference. Dub friends in good standing taught me what drinking really meant. The elders drink, many having DIY keg coolers in their garages. Many gatherings have liquor or beer/wine served in excess. If one was in a restaurant and consumed that much, they would probably be asked to leave. I have attended parties of JWs--all in "good standing" where the aftermath was an entire bathtub full of draining liquor and beer bottles.
There was once a huge incident involving me and a drunk sister (elder's wife) at a party. My emphatic reaction, not as a Witness but as someone who doesn't like drunken rudeness directed at me, resulted us being completely ostracized from that social circle. For sure, in the entire 1-1/2 to 2 years we were still in that congregation, we never received another invitation to a gathering unless it involved bringing someone an expensive baby gift. (Word was out that we always gave really great gifts for events.) The really enlightening thing about all this was that the moderate (me) was thrown out of the circle rather having to clean house of all the drunkard servants and servants' spouses. Oh well, I don't know why I'm surprised.
The thing about all this is, I'm certainly NOT a teetotaler myself. I just finished a great Midori Marg before I posted this. We often drink wine with dinner, we drink lightly to moderately when we socialize (buzz - good, puke - bad), and my husband (pater) is something of a beer connoisseur. I just prefer to remain in control.
Odrade
