Monday musing: What constitutes drinking alone?

Goodness, this is a fast moving world, whether you are biting news off in 140-character chunks or something longer.

In the time between when I collected and read rss feeds (last Friday) and could post some thoughts (today, Monday) most of what I might have added to the conversation about the Twitter Taste Live featuring Chimay and Westmalle beers on Saturday those comments seem redundant.

So just look at what Andy Crouch had to say in advance, something of a replay from beersage and Alan McLeod’s thoughtful recap.

(Friday I talked with Jay Brooks a bit about this, so I suspect he may soon have commentary worth your time.)

Fact is that had we not happily been enjoying how bright the stars were deep in the Florida Everglades (camped where there were no electrical or water hookups, with zero bars showing on my phone) and had it been physically possible I would have dropped in on this “event” to see if were any different than chat room tastings that have been around much longer than Twitter. And to find out what people got right and wrong when discussing Trappist beers.

Anyway, sll this discussion left me with a question: What constitutes drinking alone?

I would say that a trip to a bar in which your only conversation includes ordering beer, followed by taking notes, followed by posting them online counts as drinking alone. No matter what follows on a discussion board.

But what about at an event such as that at Twitter Taste Live or in a chat room?

Where does virtual reality end and enlightened conviviality begin?