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Drinking as a requirement for business
One of my secret vices is reading "Dear Abby" on a daily basis. My wife thinks it's hilarious that a 36-year old man turns to that column immediately after finishing the sports page, but I've been reading it since I was in the 2nd grade.
My self-revalations aside, the topic in today's column was a follow-up to a earlier one about a person that felt pressured to drink at work functions. This is something that is near and dear to my heart considering the expectations in my industry. As an example, tonight one of my best friends on the underwriting side is driving into town, and I'm taking him and 3 or 4 other brokers out to dinner (Tavern on Rush if anyone's interested). There will be cocktails at the bar, at least a couple of bottles of wine with dinner and more drinks back at the bar while we play "guess who's a hooker". That's standard operating procedure around here.
My industry revolves around drinking. If you don't drink and make it well known, people will generally be very respectful of that, but if it's not well known or you do drink occassionally, abuse will follow. Anytime I take anyone anywhere are a part of a work function, there's almost certainly going to be alcohol served and even more certainly several people will be overserved. I've been to conventions around the country where my coworkers and competitors have gotten in fights, felt up waitresses, been arrested, paid prostitutes and vomited in the gutter. Note: these are things I've been witness to, not participated in.
That said, I've made it a point to find the flaws in the system. I've slipped bartenders an extra $20 to make sure that all my vodka tonics are all tonic. I've ordered shots for the table and gone to the bathroom just before they arrive. I've purposefully spilled drinks on the floor. Maybe once a year I'll get out of control and get really loaded, but I'm at the point in life where that's not much fun anymore, especially when I realilze how I'm going to feel in the morning and that my kid is getting up at 6:30 regardless of how I feel or how much sleep I got.
My point of all of this is wondering how prevalent this kind of behavior is. Do IT people (just to name a profession) go out and get hammered at all of their functions? Does every convention turn into a crime against humanity at some point? Am I the only one that has ordered wine based solely on the price?
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"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - B. Franklin
"There ought to be limits to freedom." - George W. Bush
"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Pogo
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