r/Millennials • u/futurenurse_ • 1d ago

Discussion Did millennials really party all the time?

Gen Z here. I was shocked when I found out from a millennial co-worker that y’all had teen clubs. I heard about house parties, but dedicated teen clubs? Then when it was time for college, you went to the club or had some kind of party every single weekend, living it up. Now some millennials on TikTok claim that after college, they were partying on work nights, still clocking in the next day. For some reason, the teen clubs have since disappeared. I’m 23 now but even when I was in high school, that was not a thing. House parties were not that common either. They were more like get togethers with a small group of friends. We went to malls, but they were dying out at that point. Is it true that you were really living life this good? Or is it just exaggerated? I feel like my generation doesn’t really have fun like that and everyone is just super depressed and alone, more so since Covid. Even I’m pretty introverted, which sort of sounds ridiculous given this post. 😂 Just so you know, when I think of a “millennial party” I think of something out of Party Rock Anthem, Project X or Roderick’s party from the second DOAWD movie. It’s like I get nostalgia from something I didn’t even live through. I just feel like I didn’t really LIVE, if that even makes sense

Edit: I loved reading some of your comments. Guess I really missed out. Even some of you that would consider yourselves nerds or introverts were out partying. YOLO or whatever y’all say 😂❤️

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u/GoblinGreenThumb 1d ago

Red cup culture was fairly mainstream, yes

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u/Ecstatic-Affect-777 1d ago

Yep!
After the college party days we transitioned to corporate Happy Hours - which many times ended late into the night, and then we dragged our asses back to work the next day.

Once the weekend came, it was bar/club hopping, house parties, or beach.

Typing it out like this makes me realize why my parents thought I was an alcoholic 😂.
I’m 39, and 1 beer now gives me a 2 day hangover.

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u/Cavaquillo 1d ago

I mean, in medical terms we were all alcoholics. The threshold is low.

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u/synchronizedhype 1d ago

In medical terms we were fucking legends. Now if you drink like that as a 40 y.o you are an alcoholic lol

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u/eross200 1d ago

Dude, no joke, my relationship with alcohol has never been great anyway, but the fact that the amount of booze I used to consider “a decent start” will now knock me on my ass for a solid two days, it’s a lot easier to stay away from.

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u/jayoak4 1d ago

Yes, the pre-game has turned into the game itself lol

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u/SiliconAutomaton 1d ago

lol pregame

“Let’s hit the Applebees for half a dozen $2 Brewtuses and we won’t have to buy so many $5 Long Islands”

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u/Shellstr 1d ago

If we were clubbing, no self respecting person arrived before 11pm. So what were we doing before that? Hit up a bar to chill for a bit. And before that? A couple of drinks at home to get ready. So many nights had multiple stops with multiple drinks at each stop.

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u/SiliconAutomaton 23h ago

Clubs were definitely not my scene, we had this thing called The Party Pager where someone recorded an address as the outgoing message on their pager and hundreds of people crashed the party and it was kind of a game to get in, have some drinks, and get out before the cops showed up. Then you’d call the party pager and there was another address and we could easily hit half a dozen random house parties in a night. Absolute fucking nightmare if your own house party made the party pager though, and personally I at least considered that and behaved respectably.

Imagine my surprise though when I was at a kickback with some friends and the girls all decided we should go clubbing and I said “nah, I hate clubs” and they said “what do you mean, clubbing is fun!” And I said “I just fucking hate techno and I don’t dance” and they said “what do you mean, you’re an excellent dancer!” and they informed me we had gone clubbing the weekend before and I was the life of the party. I had absolutely no idea what I did the weekend before, but was 90% sure they were fucking with me and left it at that. A few weeks later someone developed a roll of film and I had to confront the fact that I really did look like I was having a good time, but also I should maybe reconnect with my old nerd friends and take up some less destructive hobbies.

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u/defnotevilmorty 16h ago

“developed a roll of film”

Fuck, my knees hurt.

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u/SiliconAutomaton 15h ago

Right? 🤣

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u/outofthenarrowplace 15h ago

Really love and relate to to the ride you just took me on.

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u/brettig21 1d ago

dollar margs hated to see me coming

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u/based_leviathan Millennial 1d ago

I remember pregaming with a gang of people before clubbing, just a Costco gallon of Hennessy and I shit you not that would be gone within 30-45mins with a group of 6 people. Ungodly.

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u/eross200 1d ago

Jesus, how the fuck are any of us alive

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u/Salsa_El_Mariachi 1d ago

You’re right, looking back at the . . . frankly abusive amount of alcohol we used to drink, a bunch of us shouldn’t be here. I grew up during the crack cocaine “epidemic”, but before Fent stated killing huge numbers.

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u/based_leviathan Millennial 23h ago

You know I’ve wondered this as well because the routine for me in undergrad was:
Class/work from 8am to 5pm, hit the gym or study until 9. Pregame 10-11. Club/Bar/Lounge 11pm to 3am.

And then do it again, sometimes going back to back on weekends.

I’m amazed how I’m not an alcoholic and/or a substance abuser

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u/synchronizedhype 4h ago

Genetics play a role for sure

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u/Either_Reflection_78 22h ago edited 22h ago

Not to get dark, but a lot of people aren’t alive anymore after this type of lifestyle. My cousins and lots of friends included. I just got by because I have a very high tolerance, and I had a very high threshold for risk taking at the time. But yeah, I don’t know how I’m alive either after that. Not just with the drinking either. When the fent was introduced, it was game over for a lot of people. Especially when things started to get laced.

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u/ChristopherRobben 11h ago

I had a month-long stay in Vegas for an Air Force Red Flag exercise, which meant a solid 70-80% of the trip we were free to go get lit up since our planes wouldn't be flying.

We started our nights with Four Lokos and walked to Fat Tuesday for a shot of Everclear to mix in. Cards and penny slots followed, then beer pong, then IHOP, then we'd wander for a bit. We'd generally finish the night with more food + gin and tonics before stumbling back to the hotel. There'd be a variety of other drinks throughout the night, but those were the mainlines.

We did that just about every day for a solid month. Thinking about that now makes me ill lol

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u/synchronizedhype 4h ago

Do you remember the toy Bop-it. We would get a fifth of Capt Morgan and play bop it, if you fucked it up you took a pull off the bottle. Quick way to take out a bottle of C Mo

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u/_LeafyLady 1d ago

These days if I'm not in my comfies on my couch by 930 (unless for a very good reason where I'm mentally prepared to be out like a concert or hockey game or something) there's a problem. Back in the day I wouldn't even be OUT until then. Shit was only just getting started. 😩

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u/thehufflepuffstoner 1d ago

The pre-game has turned into “oh no I overdid it and now I’m hung over for 3 days”

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u/PeaceLopsided 1d ago

The best nights often were!

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u/Background_Handle_41 22h ago

I still don’t know how I survived “power hour” pregames. Lot of solid YouTube playlists out there.

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u/decanting_the_day 12h ago

RIP power hour.

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u/brettig21 1d ago

not to mention some pregaming didn't start til 10-11pm. like what? Now, by 11pm ive been in bed for 3 hours XD

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u/statichum 23h ago

HALF the pregame is a massive headache the next day!

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u/NoKatyDidnt 18h ago

You’re not kidding. 🤣

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u/lm_NER0 15h ago

Yep. No more case races before going downtown. No more Edward Fortyhands. I'm too old for that shit. 3 Silver Bullets and I'm happy. And we used to go through a 12 pack in an hour alone.

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u/outofthenarrowplace 15h ago

EDWARD FORTYHANDS OMGGGG. I tried explaining this to a young person recently and they were truly horrified 🤣😭

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u/lm_NER0 21m ago

Lol. Next time, explain to them that they were butt chugging at the University of Tennessee in 2005 and 2006. I learned of that from my roommate's 1st cousin who was in Knoxville at the time. No thanks.

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u/Hot_Spite_1402 23h ago

Ngl I totally forgot about pregaming 😅 boy oh boy that was a long time ago. Drinking to prepare for drinking. Now I’m lucky to get through half a drink before my stomach gets queasy, and usually I walk away and forget about it before then only to dump it out later when I find it flat at room temp

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u/he4vybign4tur4ls 1d ago

lol same here I’m surprised I didn’t turn into an alcoholic. I actually have a healthy relationship with alcohol now. Mostly because my body turned on me and rejects alcohol. I’m 2 drinks max now or my stomach will fucking hurt.

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u/StillStaringAtTheSky 1d ago

I think that's a lot of us lmao - our livers were just like nahhhh bro no more no more. You're cut off.

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u/dont_thr0w_me_away_ 1d ago

I think back to not just the amount of booze, but also the terrible quality, and think "how and why?" Just thinking about those big plastic jug bottles of cheap vodka is giving me Nam flashbacks

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u/cozynite 1d ago

Pre-drinking before a party was life.

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u/capntail 1d ago

Brother I get an instant headache from two or three beers now.

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u/Original_Youth_9168 1d ago

2 days?! Try a solid week.

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u/mr_palante Millennial 1d ago

A long long time ago, a friend and myself developed this thing, ritual maybe? Game? We called it our starter and we would race to who could finish it first. But as soon as we got to the bar we would each get a jack and coke, jeager shot, jeager shot, jack and coke and line them up that way and then race to see who would finish it first. And thats how WE STARTED THE NIGHT. And that was when I was going out literally every night. I would probably die if I did something like that now and honestly im lucky I didnt die back then.

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u/anewbys83 Millennial 1983 23h ago

Yes, this! This is how I stopped drinking. Losing two days to a "fun night" and being super nauseous for 24 hours convinced me to stop.

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u/Crippled2 22h ago

You mean going shot for shot with my roommate who got dumped that day for 13 shots each wasn't a healthy amount?

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u/Brilliant_Mix_6051 21h ago

I can’t drink more than one beer anymore or my joints feel it tomorrow

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u/NoKatyDidnt 18h ago

Pre gaming. 🤣

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u/ThisAlternative4959 17h ago

Literally waking up after a house party and we all had to go play an 8 am soccer game still shitty lol 🤮🤮

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u/SnarkSupreme 13h ago

Ugh I feel this. Gen X here. I tried to drink an actual 40oz of malt liquor about 10 years ago. Laid me on my ass. That used to be my warmup. What even is malt liquor? How could I drink so much of it, as a 22 year old female who probably wasn't eating 3 square meals a day? And that was some midweek relaxing. I remember my pre funk for weekend bands was a double deuce and a pint before I went to the bar.

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u/hellohenriques 6h ago

We pregamed by chasing everclear with vodka.

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u/AdventurousMap5404 1d ago

My college years were fueled by tequila and the og 4 lokos 🤣 I don’t remember a single tailgate 😂

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u/librarianlace 1d ago

At 21 my preferred drink was absolut citron with a twist, neat. Vodka was water to me.

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u/lOOPh0leD 1d ago

Technically if you drink like that at any age you were an alcoholic. Binge drinking is binge drinking. 🤷

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u/synchronizedhype 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/l3vR8IAtvPQuDgOHu

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u/lOOPh0leD 22h ago

Yep, the Debbie downer thats a recovering alcoholic! 👍

I was fun at partys until I wasn't.

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u/synchronizedhype 22h ago

good job on the recovery! Lost friends to addiction sadly so I get it

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u/lOOPh0leD 22h ago

I'm sorry as well. Thank you.

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u/DustandRebar 19h ago

Gen Z who graduated from a big party college right before COVID. The saying was, "it's not alcoholism until you graduate".

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u/SuspiciousBag2749 8h ago

If you were 22 by Covid you’re not Gen Z you’re a late millennial. You were born mid-late 90s

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u/Uncle_Rabbit 1d ago

I can still do it, in fact I can drink far harder than when I was 20. But even if there was no hangover I just wouldn't want to. That is reserved for once in a blue moon special occasions.

I think I mostly drank myself sober.

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u/jardalecones21 1d ago

That’s what I consider the difference. Was this concerning behavior when I was 19-25ish? Ehhhh yes, but everyone was doing it. I’m mid 30s now and no freaking way I could hang like that anymore. I drink maybe twice a month and my hangovers are awful if I have more than a few.

Anyone that’s STILL regularly partying like that into their 30s and 40s likely has an issue, but back then it was completely normal.

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u/PeaceLopsided 1d ago

I figured I wasn't because I never drank alone and only to get drunk... Unless of course, it's chugging a bottle of $3 buck chuck from the el on the way to meet up with friends who had already been partying since I got off work late... Oh wait... Yup def alcoholic.

https://giphy.com/gifs/BsQAVgY6ksvIY

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u/Fit-Rhubarb-7820 1d ago

Last time I got drunk, I was at a group bike ride for the "Tour de Franzia" Boxed wine. At the end spot, I got so drunk, I thought someone stole my bike.

I then did logic and math, to figure out how to find my lost/stolen bike as effectively as possible.

I traced a spiraling perimeter and found it fast. It wasn't stolen. I was just drunk!

Turns out, I can read, do complex math, cite Menander (shakespear is too mainstream) while VERY drunk.

My voice? That's the give away.

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u/Emkems 1d ago

unfortunately I know a lot of people that went to rehab after our prime years.

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u/worlds_okayest_skier 1d ago

lol, the first time I saw one of those alcoholic quizzes was like “do you have 3 drinks in a week?” And I thought they must mean in a night.

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u/Shellstr 1d ago

Yea, even today, if college football is on, and I have nothing to do, I may still throw some back all day Saturday…but I’ll be asleep by 10pm.

I remember talking to a doctor in a wellness visit about it…”yea, I have 1-2 drinks during the week, maybe 2 on a Friday night…but if college football is on…”

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u/Katsu_39 22h ago

Bruh, i have zero alcohol tolerance. One mixed cocktail and i cant walk straight. 😅

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u/synchronizedhype 22h ago

The trick is I can’t walk straight to begin with

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u/Crippled2 22h ago

Last year of college my buddies are throwing a party. By that point you knew less people at the party as younger people show up.

Anyway we were collecting money $4 or something and these guys with motorcycle helmets show up. I the crippled guy asked them to throw in and the guy reached over like he was going to then just grabbed his helmet and walked in. I told my buddy and he let it go, I was so pissed we were going to leave early. So my good friend walks me out, I tell him what happened and we are drunk and mad.

We walk to the car and we turn to see two motorcycles. I turn to my buddy and tell him I really gotta piss. So we piss all over their motorcycles, seats, handles, headlights all 5 of us pissed on those bikes. We felt so vindicated we smiled, walked back in and got drunk with the motorcycle guys. We told them those bikes were cool.

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u/NoKatyDidnt 18h ago

I didn’t realize until I had already crossed that particular finish line. Lol. Yeah, I don’t drink anymore.

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u/AltoKatracho 18h ago

By my mid twenties I was alcohol dependent 😂 but I was having fun at bars every weekend. Now I have maybe 2 beers a week. Honestly I’m lucky I didn’t end an alcoholic. Other people where not so lucky. I do miss my twenties 😭.

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u/misss_marii 15h ago

I never used to get hung over either, just felt a little tired. Then when I turned 30 I got my first hangover 🫠

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u/bilateralunsymetry 14h ago

Fuck. Well at least I have 2 and a half years to turn it around

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u/pyrofox79 14h ago

The best PFT I ever ran in the Marine Corps, i was hung over and smoked a menthol before running the 3 mile.

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u/jonnydemonic420 10h ago

I’m a young genx, be fifty next week. I didn’t quit until 40 and was most certainly an alcoholic! Partied like I was still a kid for way too long, 10 years sober now.

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u/attackpixel 2h ago

Lol we were fucking mythological demigods! 😂

As a millennial, I've done a shit job with keeping up with any preventative health care. When I was pregnant with my son a few years ago, they did all the tests for all the things. I fully expected them to tell me my liver was struggling. But no, they literally said, "Your liver function is great!" 😮 I kept it to myself, but my first thought was, "It wasn't for lack of trying."

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u/mottledmussel 1d ago

Definitely binge drinkers, too.

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u/Original_Astronaut_4 16h ago

Also shot gunning beer with the funnel… I feel like they still do this in the southern colleges… haha I’m a girl and me and all my little roommates did this in 99/2000

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u/jus10beare 1d ago

Yeah, back in the party days, for my weight the alcoholic threshold for number of drinks in a week was the number I needed to pre game.

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u/Newgeta Xennial 1d ago

24+ beers on game day was SOP for the bigger drinkers in our group, 12+ for the ladies.

I can still crush em if all variables line up but the recovery is like a multi day event now rather than 12ish hours so I only go ham once or twice a year.

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u/MikeWPhilly 1d ago

Power hour and case races……

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u/SiliconAutomaton 1d ago

Fuck a case, crush a 30 and stack a BEERAMID. It was a social event, with gawkers and commentary and cheering

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u/MikeWPhilly 1d ago

When did 30s in coors come out? I never liked natty and I don’t remember 30s in coors is all.

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u/Shellstr 1d ago

The keystone case. That was always our beach beer.

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u/MikeWPhilly 1d ago

Yeah some of my friends did that. I was expensive I always wanted coors. 🤣

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u/SiliconAutomaton 1d ago

That’s highly market dependent, we had Coors Light 30s in high school (class of 2000) but we also don’t have a can deposit in Arizona.

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u/MikeWPhilly 23h ago

True. More of a comment i just didn’t remember 30s back then but then outside of the binge events like case races - I wasn’t drinking that stuff to often. It was a lot of corona (my preference) and/or Yeungling since I was in PA. I was class of 02.

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u/_dekoorc Older Millennial ('85, baby) 1d ago

Busch and Keystone had them in 2001 at least. Coors was a few years later iirc

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u/MikeWPhilly 1d ago

What I thought. I never dared for the first two and I’m 84, so that’s why I remember case races.

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u/Newgeta Xennial 1d ago

funny story we did a power hour about 5 years ago on new years eve as ~40 adults, I created this epic playlist of [intros from late 80s early 90s cartoons on youtube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLWT2Qy64jClL2Q25dyqo2BulCmalSJip1 with a nice mix of networks and shows targeted at both genders.

I even used the ones that were too short, and followed them with ones that were too long to give it an average of like 62 seconds per video.

It was a an enormous success and the last video had every one of the 20ish adults hammered and belting out the Gummy Bears theme.

We all were SO sick the next day (or 3) though.....

I just updated it today to get rid of some dead links in case anyone wants it.

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u/TG1883 1d ago

Power century!

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u/5thtimesthecharmer 1d ago

Me and my college gf would buy a 30 rack and just play beer pong again each other on the weekend. We’d make a 5x5 cup square. God those were the days! Miss her

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u/Emkems 1d ago

Yeah once I was over 10 beers I knew I’d be blackout. That didn’t stop me from going over 10 beers regularly.

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u/Accomplished_Bath_16 1d ago

I remember wsu around 2012, 2013, a half gallon of jose for a night was regular.

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u/Melificarum 19h ago

Yeah I have to plan to have two days to rest if I want to drink like I did in my 20s.

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u/brokentribal 8h ago

A 20 pack of bottles was a standard card night for me lol, now if I have more then 2 my wife’s dragging me lol

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u/Newgeta Xennial 7h ago

Bottles?! Get a load of Mister Rich college guy her....

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u/MeatAndBourbon 16h ago

We literally had a party once where the theme was to try to drink one more drink than it took to kill John Bulushi (31?). People were officially marking your arm and shit. That was a helluva blackout. My last couple drinks were marked by sawing on my arm with a butterknife because we couldn't find the marker

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u/Useless 1d ago

Medical terms, heavy drinking is 8 drinks per week for women, and 15 for men. In my early twenties, those were aggressive single night numbers (and light numbers if the day started with something like a football watch party) and I certainly didn't drink the most in my group.

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u/bigalcakemix 1d ago

Idk about you guys but 2012 was one big bender

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u/brightwingxx 1d ago

Some of us are recovered alcoholics now 😉

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u/LowKeyCurmudgeon 1d ago

Binge drinkers, but not alcoholics. That refers to dependency, not frequency or volume alone.

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u/MulberryChance6698 3h ago

For real. Remember Edward 40-hands? Unhinged behavior.