a drinking problem

People in NYC are always sending e-mails to each other with subject lines like "next week" and "dinner?" and trying to make plans to meet up. These e-mails always kind of stress me out. I want to see random college friends as much as the next guy, but I can never settle on what exactly I'm supposed to propose that we do together. More often than not, though, what is settled upon is getting a drink.

There are a lot of nice aspects of getting a drink with an acquaintance. A drink is informal (as opposed to getting dinner), can happen pretty much wherever and can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours depending on how uncomfortable/wonderful the dynamic is. In general, getting drinks with rando friend > getting dinner with rando friend.

But lately, my tune has changed a bit: I've decided - hold your breath, here - that getting drinks with a pal really isn't all that awesome.

1) I don't really enjoy drinking when there is no promise of getting at least tipsy (what is the point?!), and I never really want to get drunk (or tipsy) (or anything) when it is 9 o'clock on a Tuesday night....

2) ... because it's expensive! Who wants to pay $9 for a vodka-cranberry that basically just tastes like really cold cranberry juice?!

3) Bars are loud and rowdy. It's awkward enough that we're talking about our freshman counselor but this awkwardness is quadrupled by the fact that we have TO SCREAM AT EACH OTHER while talking about him.

4) Whenever I find myself sitting in some dimly-lit bar that neither of us will ever set foot in again, I always think about how I'd rather just be at Pinkberry.