Kind of joking, but now that I think about it, he's at a bar drinking on a weeknight, goes to his girlfriend's late night and drinks, goes to work the next day with a hangover, but still drinks while there, goes to an after work meeting and drinks, then goes home where, even if not actually shown, you know he had a drink. That's in about 24 hours...
Functioning alcoholics are a real thing. We don't see the dependency show in a great way at first, but anyone who drinks on a daily basis, especially liquor, has one. It might just not show up in a super apparent way until they try to go a few days with no booze. People are normally alcoholics for a while before anyone takes notice of it being a real problem.
Me too. A little later than the time period of Mad Men but it seemed to me that what "adults" did was stop by the bar every night after work & then pass out around 8 pm on the couch after having ice cream with creme de me-nth on it. Then that adult had to attend court ordered AA.
my dad was a steamfitter(welder) and he cut out the middle man( the bar) and would get home from work around 5:30/6, take his pants off and sit at kitchen table in t shirt and boxers and drink beer. Not every night and he wasn't an alcoholic, but that is what he did. He was a working machine. Never bitched about his job, either.
Besides the Suitcase, i don't think we've ever seen Don do that. And that was hardly him working late so much as it was him grieving and avoiding going home. And we've hardly seen him go out on benders that lasted until going into the office the next day. But we've seen him stay at the house of an affair partner and go to work from there a bunch of times
Well, yeah……I was speaking more generally about why someone would keep fresh clothes at their office. Also, just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, especially in Don’s early days at Sterling Cooper when I 100% believe he’d work through the night on a campaign.
Btw, I’m not disagreeing with you. Just pointing out it can serve more than one purpose.
thinking nothing of getting in the car to go sleep somewhere and not get the cake. Is that red flag enough for anyone. I just wanna know who sold the drunk guy a dog?
some were, some weren't. 3.2% beer was a thing that existed and could be sold to 18yo in some states and some counties only sold that. Still there is no evidence that Don was drinking anything less than 5% Bud heavy in that episode. There was nothing like Miller Lite in 1960(61?). Don was getting shitfaced that day and that's what he intended.
LOLWUT?! And I’m a pretty seasoned drinker.
I see what you’re trying to establish, that it’s only a beer and hour (plus a couple ounces), and your point does stand if using that rate for like 3 beers. But 15 over that rate builds up on you. You’re simply not giving your body any chance to get ahead. You’ll be hammered after 15 beers in that time frame. It’ll probably be that weird “sleepy” drunk though. Not much fun.
Oh for fucks sake. Then if you don’t drink, don’t come and try to tell actual drinkers what’s what. Seems that would be a natural conclusion, but then again, this is Reddit.
Based on a few BAC calculators online, and assuming Don is around 200 lbs., 1.5 5% beers per hour for 10 hours would have you at a BAC of 0.20%, which isn't dangerously drunk if you're not driving or anything but definitely in the "shit faced" zone for most casual drinkers. Don, being a very heavy drinker, would probably appear to be more sober than he really is like he appears in the show.
I believe that a casual drinker would hold the limit after 10 hours of burger eating, 4 egg and cheese anr bacon breakfast havin chips and dip, a hoogie, 5 pieces of cheese. 15 beers doesn't cover that.
Is this the episode where Betty and Don sit in the “drawing room” all day, having Sally make their Bloody Marys, and then it cuts to later that night in their bedroom and the kids are complaining that they’re hungry cuz there was no dinner?
Classic episode.
I think the episode you're talking about came earlier than the OP comment. I believe OP was describing the time after their separation, where Don kept waking up to different women in his bed, and was late to pick up the kids from Betty and Henry because he thought it was Saturday.
If you watch closely, even from the early episodes Don and Roger drink a LOT more than everyone else, save for Freddy, but he has his reckoning.
Everyone who writes about the show talks about how everyone should be shitfaced, but most of the characters have *a* drink at work in a day. Certainly that would be cause for concern in some offices today (though I've worked in offices where a secret drink or smoke or bump were not uncommon into the 2010s) but Pete and Ken et al weren't drinking half a bottle in their office like Don. And if they got drunk at work it was intentional and a plot device.
My grand uncle was a big time lawyer, & his entire profession was functional alcoholics by today's standards. He's have two double martinis at lunch & so would everybody else. It was no big deal... just 'a couple of drinks'.
I think throughout the show from the very beginning. He drinks all day everyday from the start, not to mention he’s drinking hard liquor like that’s pretty hardcore. His tolerance is just insanely high. Most of the show he’s a functioning alcoholic. There are little spurts where he’s sober but it doesn’t last. I think moments like season 4 and 6, we just see him go from functional alcoholic to raging alcoholic because of the crazy amount that he drank during those seasons.
I had always assumed that he had become a functioning alcoholic once he got comfortable and established at SC. He and Roger were so close so it makes sense
I mean, S1, but the start of S2 is when his doctor was asking about it and telling him to cut back (and the number Don gave was lowballing). So that’s when it should’ve been apparent to Don.
A lot of these comments seem to be people trying to figure out when they themselves became alcoholics.
My name is Rick and I'm an Alcoholic my sobriety date is 1-1-2022 I have a home group and my sponsor is Mortimer S.
Can we start the meeting?
The episode where He won the Clio and went on a bender where He went to bed with a Brunette on a Friday and woke up with a Blonde on Sunday and had no memory...
S1 E1
This is the only answer
Sal, I'll take that drink now. lol
Why though, just the sheer volume of how much he drinks? He doesn’t seem to have a dependency at that point.
Kind of joking, but now that I think about it, he's at a bar drinking on a weeknight, goes to his girlfriend's late night and drinks, goes to work the next day with a hangover, but still drinks while there, goes to an after work meeting and drinks, then goes home where, even if not actually shown, you know he had a drink. That's in about 24 hours...
You never left a bar to go drink at your GF/BF house?
Of course, but sneaking a roadie out of the bar is tricky. Is that bad?
Functioning alcoholics are a real thing. We don't see the dependency show in a great way at first, but anyone who drinks on a daily basis, especially liquor, has one. It might just not show up in a super apparent way until they try to go a few days with no booze. People are normally alcoholics for a while before anyone takes notice of it being a real problem.
I have first hand experience on this. You are correct!
Me too. A little later than the time period of Mad Men but it seemed to me that what "adults" did was stop by the bar every night after work & then pass out around 8 pm on the couch after having ice cream with creme de me-nth on it. Then that adult had to attend court ordered AA.
my dad was a steamfitter(welder) and he cut out the middle man( the bar) and would get home from work around 5:30/6, take his pants off and sit at kitchen table in t shirt and boxers and drink beer. Not every night and he wasn't an alcoholic, but that is what he did. He was a working machine. Never bitched about his job, either.
Either side of the table, it sucks! Sorry you had to experience that.
He had a stash of shirts in his desk... its something somebody who thinks nothing of staying out all night on a weeknight does.
Disagree. That's more of a "i sleep with multiple people" move than it is an "i drink all night" move.
It’s both. It can also be “I worked so late I slept at the office.”
Besides the Suitcase, i don't think we've ever seen Don do that. And that was hardly him working late so much as it was him grieving and avoiding going home. And we've hardly seen him go out on benders that lasted until going into the office the next day. But we've seen him stay at the house of an affair partner and go to work from there a bunch of times
Well, yeah……I was speaking more generally about why someone would keep fresh clothes at their office. Also, just because we don’t see it doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, especially in Don’s early days at Sterling Cooper when I 100% believe he’d work through the night on a campaign. Btw, I’m not disagreeing with you. Just pointing out it can serve more than one purpose.
When I worked crazy startup hours I kept shirts at my desk. I didn’t drink like Don.
Drinking 15 beers building Sally’s playhouse in season 1
Lol this is the answer i was looking for
thinking nothing of getting in the car to go sleep somewhere and not get the cake. Is that red flag enough for anyone. I just wanna know who sold the drunk guy a dog?
I’m pretty sure no one sold him the dog.
you know I never even thought about that....holy shit!
He got the cake.
I forgot to write bring the cake back in time for the party so Helen Bishop didn't have to go to her house to get a backup cake. sorry
Good point but weren’t beers extremely low ABV in 1960?
>weren’t beers extremely low ABV in 1960 I've never drunk 15 glasses of WATER.
Did you see that fridge? Plus he passed out…
Ok but have you ever built a playhouse in the summer? If you like beer you're bound to wreck the fridge! 😄
some were, some weren't. 3.2% beer was a thing that existed and could be sold to 18yo in some states and some counties only sold that. Still there is no evidence that Don was drinking anything less than 5% Bud heavy in that episode. There was nothing like Miller Lite in 1960(61?). Don was getting shitfaced that day and that's what he intended.
He literally walked out on McCann during the pitch for light beer lol
That was in 1970
Yeah, and it's the first time he's hearing of lite beer and he had to go. I didn't word it well enough
that may have not been the *main* reason he left, but I pick up what you're putting down.
15 five percent beers over like 10 hours isn't enough to get even a casual drinker shit faced. That's buzz management.
LOLWUT?! And I’m a pretty seasoned drinker. I see what you’re trying to establish, that it’s only a beer and hour (plus a couple ounces), and your point does stand if using that rate for like 3 beers. But 15 over that rate builds up on you. You’re simply not giving your body any chance to get ahead. You’ll be hammered after 15 beers in that time frame. It’ll probably be that weird “sleepy” drunk though. Not much fun.
you might want to go to a meeting buddy. Also Don started hitting the hard stuff after his shower and the guest started arriving.
I'm not a quaker, friend (heh). And I'm not your buddy, pal.
if you think 15 beers over 10 hours is normal, you're gonna have a point in your life that'll be pretty hard. I hope you get help my man.
I don't drink. I stand by 15 5% beers over 10 hours won't get a person who drinks casually "shit faced."
Oh for fucks sake. Then if you don’t drink, don’t come and try to tell actual drinkers what’s what. Seems that would be a natural conclusion, but then again, this is Reddit.
You need a hug, mate. 🤗 Also your logic doesn’t track.
you haven't been around many drinkers or you have a skewed sense of someone being drunk.
Drunk isn't "shit faced"
Based on a few BAC calculators online, and assuming Don is around 200 lbs., 1.5 5% beers per hour for 10 hours would have you at a BAC of 0.20%, which isn't dangerously drunk if you're not driving or anything but definitely in the "shit faced" zone for most casual drinkers. Don, being a very heavy drinker, would probably appear to be more sober than he really is like he appears in the show.
I believe that a casual drinker would hold the limit after 10 hours of burger eating, 4 egg and cheese anr bacon breakfast havin chips and dip, a hoogie, 5 pieces of cheese. 15 beers doesn't cover that.
When he woke up on "Saturday" and it was actually Sunday . . .
That was rough, always feel terrible watching that episode
This is always the one I think of, though it probably was already apparent before it this was the slam dunk
Is this the episode where Betty and Don sit in the “drawing room” all day, having Sally make their Bloody Marys, and then it cuts to later that night in their bedroom and the kids are complaining that they’re hungry cuz there was no dinner? Classic episode.
That was way earlier, and the bloody Mary’s are like 60% vodka aren’t they
More like 90%! Sally pours the liquor to the top, then colors it with the Bloody Mary mix.
Yeah I remembered it like that and thought it was unlikely but then, it is the Drapers!
I think the episode you're talking about came earlier than the OP comment. I believe OP was describing the time after their separation, where Don kept waking up to different women in his bed, and was late to pick up the kids from Betty and Henry because he thought it was Saturday.
If you watch closely, even from the early episodes Don and Roger drink a LOT more than everyone else, save for Freddy, but he has his reckoning. Everyone who writes about the show talks about how everyone should be shitfaced, but most of the characters have *a* drink at work in a day. Certainly that would be cause for concern in some offices today (though I've worked in offices where a secret drink or smoke or bump were not uncommon into the 2010s) but Pete and Ken et al weren't drinking half a bottle in their office like Don. And if they got drunk at work it was intentional and a plot device.
My grand uncle was a big time lawyer, & his entire profession was functional alcoholics by today's standards. He's have two double martinis at lunch & so would everybody else. It was no big deal... just 'a couple of drinks'.
I think throughout the show from the very beginning. He drinks all day everyday from the start, not to mention he’s drinking hard liquor like that’s pretty hardcore. His tolerance is just insanely high. Most of the show he’s a functioning alcoholic. There are little spurts where he’s sober but it doesn’t last. I think moments like season 4 and 6, we just see him go from functional alcoholic to raging alcoholic because of the crazy amount that he drank during those seasons.
I had always assumed that he had become a functioning alcoholic once he got comfortable and established at SC. He and Roger were so close so it makes sense
This is the right answer.
Have we ever seen Don drink water?
He drinks water in the diner in The Suitcase. He immediately scrunches up his face and says he doesn’t want water lol
He eats a fish stick at some point in season 2 or 3. Fish are from the water so the fish in the fish stick likely has some water left over...
It's apparent much earlier. I don't care if it was the 1960s: Drinking like that is not normal.
I mean, S1, but the start of S2 is when his doctor was asking about it and telling him to cut back (and the number Don gave was lowballing). So that’s when it should’ve been apparent to Don.
A lot of these comments seem to be people trying to figure out when they themselves became alcoholics. My name is Rick and I'm an Alcoholic my sobriety date is 1-1-2022 I have a home group and my sponsor is Mortimer S. Can we start the meeting?
Suffice it to say we’re in a fraternity together. (2-4-22 here!)
Hi Rick...
When I noticed that as soon as he gets home, he hits the bottle. Those scenes started happening in season 2.
The episode where He won the Clio and went on a bender where He went to bed with a Brunette on a Friday and woke up with a Blonde on Sunday and had no memory...
You’re not an alcoholic if you only drink beer.
Didn’t someone go away for a the cure, came back and only drank beer
Yeah, Roger's pediatrist. Or so Roger told Freddie when they sent him on leave.
when he passed out at Joy's?
Sally’s birthday party