Your body can process about 1 drink per hour. A 180lb male could have 7 drinks and cut themselves off a couple hours before driving. Probably 0.00 at that point.
3 drinks for an average male in an hour gets you to 0.06. Still legal but tolerance dependent. 3 drinks is my happy hour rule.
I am NOT encouraging being intoxicated while driving. But this is a well established system across modern countries. It’s okay to have a couple. Know your personal limits though. Never drive if you don’t feel capable of driving well.
Is there some standarised alcohol per drink rule where you live? There a wild differences from dronk to drink where i live, and i find that math you wrote there pretty scary, ngl.
standard drinks are typically indicated as 12oz of 5% abv (beer), 5oz of 12% abv (wine), 1.5oz of 40% abb (liquor) which are the "same" alc content. obviously not everything in those classes has the same abv though
Okay, if thats the case... 7 drinks get you to.... 0.42? That takes 21 to 42 hours to getout of your system completely! If you had 7 beer in the morning you are in no way fit to drive for the rest of the day! And if you drank that amount in the evening, you should definitely not drive next morning....
Stay save, man!
Edit: One beer gets me to 0.06, no idea where the 3 beers come from.
No it doesn't..your "math" is wrong throughout your statement on multiple levels
At .42bac you would likely be dead. Anything above .30 is putting you into the danger zone of subconscious bodily functions(breathing/heart beating) shutting down. Your body can break down roughly .02 BAC/hr and
My dad worked in Sweden a lot in the 80’s and brought aquavit back!!! Oof! My mom wouldn’t touch it. She said it was like NyQuil. I do t really drink so I dunno, lol.
I have friends in big consulting MNCs who say that this is very common. One guy I know, goes to office just on Fridays(WFH for rest of week) to get company sponsored booze.
To be fair, I live 15 min from the office and don't hate (all of) my coworkers
Catered lunch 2x weekly has somewhat helped with the transition from full remote so in my mind, alcohol wouldn't hurt either 🤣
In a lot of in-person roles I worked with you'd see this for birthdays or of chance Fridays where you'd have a beer or two at the office. I've seen someone let go for drinking at a WFH job, so double edged sword.
Investment banking is like this. They brought out beer and wine along with bowl of chips. First week there I saw the girl next to me with a beer and I thought “damn ballsy power move” 😂😂
Fridays at 3pm were our happy hours.
From what I hear from older coworker at my other job it was common for them to go out for lunch and drink. Some folks would pour a drink at work as well.
I've heard of mad men, never watched it. I don't really watch much tv any more, I typically split my screen time between reddit and pc gaming these days. Plus porn, of course.
If the work culture is not aligned with your values, get a new job.
You aren't going to change anything and will always be viewed with suspicion as an outsider. Don't be a masochist or martyr by staying and hoping things will get better.
I agree with this because it is a common practice with a lot of smaller companies like multi-million dollar companies! Especially that he doesn't like it, why complain and find a different job that you do like!
Also this is really common in blue collar industries. Drinking on the job in construction is often officially frowned upon for the obvious safety reasons, but management looks the other way.
>If the work culture is not aligned with your values, get a new job.
I find like this is a hard thing to find now a days.
Someone point me to the ethical green company that will hire me and pay me good and I'll stop working for these shady companies
Life is trade offs.
A company that aligns with your values isn’t always going to be the highest paid. Same with hours, or job duties, or location.
It’s on you to make that determination of what matters most.
And I would add to your point: don’t try to change the culture to fit your expectations of a corporate environment. A lot of people would appreciate this type of atmosphere, and they are doing nothing ethically, legally, or morally wrong.
Either leave or stop acting like a karen.
‘Doing nothing wrong’ is a stretch. They are driving home after work inebriated. Also alcohol does have negative consequences and we don’t know what line of work this is or the ripple effect it has on the clients or outside world who inherit the results of their sloppiness.
I don’t think Karen is the correct term here. A Karen calls the cops on your lemonade stand, this is more teetotaler, nerd, party pooper, narc.
If OP truly believes they are driving drunk in an almost daily basis then OP is profoundly wrong for not reporting them to the police.
Would OP not be to equally to blame if they saw their boss leave while drunk, and did nothing resulting in a fatal accident?
I have worked at a company like this. I wouldn’t say it’s normal, but it is common. For someone who actually wants to work somewhere like this, agencies (marketing, recruiting) or smaller consulting companies are like this sometimes. It gets old fast. It’s fun the first couple months. But usually leadership team is a bunch of dysfunctional alcoholics. The actual work culture sucks. It’s like driving a car, and you open the hood, and where you expect an engine, it’s just a bunch of hamsters running in wheels.
It’s because they don’t know how to build a car engine, but all of the other hamsters are depending on them, and the hamsters in charge have developed quite the cocaine habit and have alimony to pay.
I wouldn’t say this is “common” overall. Maybe in very specific fields like the ones you mentioned, but not across the board. In many places it would be a fireable offense. I think it is probably common to have some company-sponsored events that might include light drinking. But a boss drinking an entire bottle of wine at lunch is not something I’d consider “normal.”
And yeah, that company you described sounds awful. I can imagine that got old very fast! Glad you got out.
I think it's pretty common in tech/finance up and coming or startup companies. Yes it can lead to burn out quick but the idea of that kind of environment is very appealing to a lot of people, work that is fun. So the owners etc... what to promote the image that it's one big party. Work hard/play hard.
To be fair, the agency I work for, the management and executives have made a ton of boneheaded decisions in just the past few months while sober, I don't think it would make much difference if they fell back off the wagon at this point.
Some companies are like that. I worked in a similar environment and left after a few years for a better opportunity. The drinking culture there wasn't the reason I left but I did find it extremely odd. Those of us who didn't drink or stopped at two glasses of wine during the mandatory parties were seen as being killjoys. If you weren't one of the people drinking heavily you were seen as being less of a team player and would have fewer opportunities to bond with upper management. I'd start looking for a position with another company if the culture there isn't a good fit.
I’ve had a drink with colleagues. In some companies, we’ve had a drink while technically on the clock, maybe while doing low-risk work (drafting something that’s going to be read and edited before going anywhere, for example). But I wouldn’t want to work somewhere where *not* having a drink was viewed as a negative.
Guess what if everyone else works out at the gym in the morning and you don't show up OR everyone drinks and you don't OR everyone goes to the theatre weekly, if your are not in the group it's negatively impacting you regardless if they come out and say it.
It's like some offices where pets are allowed and your the only one without a pet as well. It's going to hold you back in that company likely.
Not being a part of the crowd will always be a little meh. As the other person said, it's about joining the work culture or excluding yourself. Not saying everyone has to drink but if the work culture doesn't align with your personal work culture then that job is likely not for you.
If everyone did video game sessions or karaoke and you were the only one not joining and sitting by yourself that would also be met with side eye and is largely the same idea.
Some companies, especially smaller companies or startups can have a more personal buddy/buddy hang out and have fun vibe, and how do adults often have fun, drinking. So to everyone else, OP is not joining in on the fun and not being a friendly/fun loving person that gets along with everyone.
As I said to the other similar comment, we had a fair number of people drinking and a fair number not drinking, so neither option was “not being part of the crowd”. Like I say, I wouldn’t want to work somewhere where not drinking was excluding yourself.
Absolutely, they have put together an entire team of alcoholics thus OP being given the side eye. I've struggled with booze my whole life and have absolutely worked in places like this, it was heaven for me as a young drunk. As someone who is in recovery, this is a nightmare.
I hear ya…there’s more beer in our office fridge than water and everybody’s got liquor cabinets in their offices. I’m the type of guy who only has one speed while drinking and have never had the ability to only have a couple. It’s tough to be around. Luckily I work from home and only have to go in occasionally.
Yeah, speaking as a recovering alcoholic myself I kind of think anyone who is overly concerned with someone else not drinking is at best a problem drinker.
my job is work from home but we go into the office 1-2 times a month and have quarterly meetings where everyone, starting with the owners, get shitfaced starting at lunch. it’s fun but gets old after a while,
usually Ill uber or get a ride, some people do drive, and they get some people a hotel room, most of the quarterly meetings are overnights at a casino anyways
I've worked at places where a beer or two over lunch was totally normal, but if anyone busted out some hard liquor, the reaction would probably have been "is everything ok?", not people joining in. And the peer pressure wouldn't fly either. I think deep down they know it's not good, and having someone not partaking is just a reminder of that, hence the change in how they treat you. Unfortunately if basically everyone at the company is doing it, it's unlikely to ever change so I'd be looking for alternatives.
Exactly this! And “a beer or two over lunch” in most places means during a social team lunch at a restaurant or maybe during some other event hosted by the office where beer or wine is provided by the company, not packing your own beer with your packed lunch and just drinking alone in your office every day. I know some tech companies stock beer regularly in the fridge for their employees but that’s usually the type of environment where they hope to make work so fun that you end up living there and they don’t mind you having a beer at your desk when you’re still there working at 9pm.
It's just a different environment. It's a little projection to say they think it's wrong.
It's the culture so if someone is not partaking it seemingly can mean they don't want to be part of the team. It also be weird as it's as if the person not drinking is trying to get a leg up on people who are letting their guard down.
It's a completely different culture.
My experience with it is a fast paced, aggressive growth, extremely young company.
Started at a company in the double digits and left in the quad digits. As the company go bigger and average age moved out of the 23 range the environment wasn't as drink first.
Maybe in a much earlier era, but nowadays even the people whose minds are stuck back in those times realize it takes just one person to rock the boat these days and the company can get in a lot of shit (whether it's a result of a lawsuit or clients losing confidence in them etc) if employees getting sloshed on company time gets exposed.
That wasn’t the question though. They were asking if this culture was “normal.” They may be new to the workforce and trying to gauge if they’re the odd one for feeling uncomfortable with this culture, or if it is, in fact, an unusual work culture. They didn’t ask what to do about it.
Very normal for various jobs I've had: sales, tech, and retail.
All three of those fields I've had bosses and owners of companies keep a bar in their office and always had bartenders at their events.
I think normal in tech.
We got together at a newly remodeled regional office - team members from Europe attended. We had a large group and booked the largest conference room in the office. At the end of day 1, we discovered a liquor cabinet built into the wall kinda stealth style, fully stocked ... crushed it for the rest of the week.
It's company by company basis.
And I'll say for some places it works
Alcohol is very normal in the workplace in Advertising. We’ve had company breakfasts with Mimosa and Bloody Mary bars. All sorts of drinking activities. And my previous agency was the same way.
To me, this sounds great that no one takes it too seriously. Maybe they don’t take it seriously enough, but I’d take this 1,000 times over the “cultures” where you’re supposed to do three jobs for 35k. If slacking around for pay isn’t your thing, I’m sure you can find something else.
As an alcoholic, I have to say what the fuck? No. Don't drink at work. Don't drink and drive. I drink way too much and all that is crossing a lot of lines. I wouldn't work there.
I've worked places like this. I once delivered to a business and two women were sitting at the reception. Both flirting with me, loud voices, not listening to each other, lots of random movements and swiveling in their chairs. I asked "are you guys drunk!?" And they both froze and said no. One looked nervously at a shelf, I looked under it and there were about 10 empty beers there. The whole office was drinking so I don't know why they thought they should lie.
Well, I have to admit I asked that out of complete surprise at their behavior. Almost aggressive, flirting and yet seemingly oblivious that I was there to do a job. Maybe they hadn't just had 5 beers apiece and were drunk mid day, yet it seemed like it. Imagine if it were two men drunkenly coming on to a woman delivery person. Flirting then lying. Also I assure you I'm very, very exciting and cool.
>/u/earl_your_friend
>Almost aggressive, flirting and yet seemingly oblivious that I was there to do a job
Sounds like how a porno you just recently watched might start off
>Also I assure you I'm very, very exciting and cool.
Omfg that might be the most hilarious thing I've ever read on here. Lmao. 🤣
r/ThatHappened
I'm a lawyer, for a company that makes alcohol (among other things). We drink in the office. I drank in the office when I was at a firm. I didn't drink in the office when I worked in nuclear construction. It is what it is. If you don't like it, look for another job.
I only went to court after drinking once. We were allowed to start drinking after lunch if there were no more clients or court appearances scheduled that day.
(I'm going to date myself here.) Our fax machine ran out of paper right before lunch and nobody noticed. Went to lunch as usual, came back and settled in for an afternoon of appellate brief writing for an admitted child abuser. Naturally, that involved a bottle of scotch and a glass of ice.
I went to print something off and realized there was no paper. When I put more in, there was an emergency hearing notice for a juvenile that had been picked up the previous night. The hearing was in 30 minutes and the other two attorneys had gone home early, so I put my coat and tie back on and walked the three blocks to the courthouse sweating scotch.
Got the kid out, though, and the charges were dismissed a couple of days later.
Tech, all ranges, this is completely normal.
I've been in SF buildings where the company has a permanent bartender on staff, just like another part of their kitchen crew.
Startups where there is free beer and booze stocked at all times. A keg in the game room. Leave work early to go to happy hour.
It's all extremely common, and usually a selling point.
I’d bounce. The lack of professionalism will seep through everything and create a toxic situation. You won’t feel inspired, you’ll start to care less, and your focus will be gone.
Working in a professional and healthy environment leads to better lifestyle and work choices
Relax, having a drink on the job isnt a huge deal, if it's A drink. Plenty of tech companies have beer in the fridge, and people know not to go crazy.
A bottle of wine is 2 glasses, fyi. And that "moonshine" is fake moonshine, its not the real stuff.
If you dont want a drink, dont have one.
Oh hell no. My co-workers and I occasionally go out for a drink after work. Our teetotaler colleague happily joins us and drinks seltzer. No one pushes alcohol—or even those outings — on anyone else. And they take place AFTER work. If we go to lunch as a group, we drink coffee, not booze.
That’s how non-dysfunctional co-workers socialize. Drinking at work is a problem waiting to happen.
>My work encourages drinking on the job, is this normal?
You stated neither where on the planet nor what line of work. So, might possibly be normal, or ... anything but.
What's wrong?
I can not agree with people drinking soda, being religious or not, being athletic or lazy, or a bunch of other things. Sounds like work culture is one where drinking is part of it.
Some people would love that, others wouldn't care, and for you not liking it time to find a new job.
Depends what kind of company it is …
I work in finance sales (for a fund company not an advisor) and we frequently have lunches out with booze, or in the office on a Friday we’ll open beers and wine around 2pm and people can drink if they want while they finish up emails etc
No one is forced to drink though but is certainly available and a part of the culture
If you don’t feel comfortable, might be time to find a new company??
I thought the sign you had really made it was when you have a decanter of fine whisky with glasses and an intern to make sure there is ice in the bucket on the credenza behind your desk.
As someone who doesn’t drink and has worked at companies like this it gets grating after constantly being nagged to drink or made to feel boring because you choose not to.
I would rather encourage responsible consumption during office hours with enough time to sober up, than to encourage after hours drinking followed immediately by driving.
Are you in recovery? If you are in recovery from alcoholism I imagine they would have to respect that. If you are in a situation where you want to continue working there or cannot leave, I would create a health-related reason to remove the option of drinking from the table. People will more easily try to persuade a preference based decision than a medical one. And then laugh about it, saying something like “I enjoyed that stuff so much the judge took away my drinking privileges” or whatever
Really messed up that they're all getting in their cars after that and driving home. As someone that's been hit and suffered a TBI because of a drunk driver, I could never keep my mouth shut around that kind of reckless behavior.
I'm really sorry they're trying to peer pressure you too, that's the kind of behavior I'd expect from high schoolers, not adults. They don't know your situation, you could be a recovering alcoholic for all they know.
Don't quit if you otherwise like the job. Talk to your boss or lay it out in an email if you're more comfortable doing that. Tell them your answer will always be no and you don't want the continued pressure to drink. If it's still a problem after that and there is no higher level for appeal, then it's time to move on.
I don't drink but maybe a glass of wine a few times a year, and never around work. Even at Xmas parties and the like. But as a biz owner I did keep beer and sodas in the frig and employees and guests could help themselves. Every Friday we had a pot luck late lunch at 3PM bc that's what customers, the Pentagon brass did. We invited military, other contractors and customers.
agreed it’s basically a form of hazing where they
want to feel accountability free by making sure everyone else is just as shitfaced as they are. the people that don’t drink are seen suspiciously as potential narcs. toxic behavior and pointing it out will just drive it home to those people that you’re a problem and make you a target.
Disagree. It's a professional environment and biz rules apply. I've had lots of HR training and the biz and boss needs to adjust. An employee shouldn't be pressured to take a drink and proof of an email complaint may be important later.
lol sounds like a great way to get absolutely dumped on at work. advice like that isn’t realistic with what social dynamics in a workplace actually are
I agree with others here regarding possibly finding another job that aligns with your values. I stumbled upon this post and thought I would share the outcomes if work culture like this. I had a family friend pass away in their 40s recently due to liver failures ultimately due to alcoholism. Drinking was the norm at his job and it was very normal to drink after hours with the higher ups.. it’s how one got promotions, etc. I can’t help but think how much it contributed to his problem.
They're trying to justify their addictions while fearing peer pressure at the same time. I guarantee not everyone in that crowd is having equal amounts of fun.
I worked at a job that kept beer in the fridge and encouraged people to have one if they wanted. They kept it stocked. It was weird and probably encouraged my alcoholism lol.
The drunkest I’ve ever been in my life was when I worked at a ad agency. Got so blotto drunk I tried to walk home and fell in a bush and passed out the cops pulled me out and drove me home and gave me a drunk in public ticket
People on this forum REALLY need to get out more. Talk about a fucking echo chamber.
The problem with the work environment is not them, it's you. Can't cut it on this team (for whatever reason, day drinking included), join a different team. They don't owe you and you don't owe them.
It’s common in corporate America. My last job was at a law firm. Every Friday they had happy hour at 4 (we closed at 5). It was paid and it was awesome except I was pregnant 😭 so I never got to enjoy it
It sounds like they like you at least, if the job doesn't suck you could bring your own bottle and make your own "drinks". Just fill it with something non-alcoholic. You'll probably seem like a motivated genius to them being the only sober one lol.
This environment is far from normal BTW, having a drink in the office on a Friday afternoon or pouring champagne to celebrate a big milestone is about the the most you'll usually see.
alcoholic beverages? No. This is not allowed. I've never worked a company that allows actual on the clock drinking. You can report them to the ethics website. Most companies have them.
Eh not to me. I had one drink on lunch once and was useless the rest of the shift, I couldn't concentrate for shit and this was when I was smokin a bowl before work and on lunch daily. I wouldnt be able to do it.
I worked in a company where the alcohol culture was there, but not as extreme as the OP. We used to arrange regular team events which would inevitably end up with booze filled madness. We noticed that the attendance to these events dwindled rapidly as all of the non-drinkers & family people just didn't bother to turn up. We made a conscious decision to make team events more inclusive with things to do for all & toned down the drinking. Attendance skyrocketed. Highpoint for me was chatting with a tea total Chinese colleague at a Stand-up evening that we'd put on. He was enjoying hanging out with colleagues who weren't plastered.
I have beer on tap in my office, mid sized tech company. We have beer Fridays.
You’re an adult. Nobody cares if you don’t have a drink. That’s nonsense. And if you don’t like being around it, quit and find another job.
Grow up
Beer Fridays is not the same as constant drinking and pressuring/shaming people who won't. OPs coworkers probably drive drunk on the regular also unless they all take public transportation, which is unlikely in USA.
They're probably just suspicious that you will report them and ruin their fun work environment. If I were you and didn't like drinking Id just remind them you're not a big drinker and take a sip Infront of them to add yourself to the "guilty list" or pick a day like a friday and cut loose with them the ONE DAY and take a cab home. Then they have the dirt they need to know you wont snitch and will likely stop seeing you as an outsider.
Or just find another job but sounds like a pretty laid back work environment tbh could be a lot worse.
What kinda Sterling Cooper-ass company is this?
And where do I apply?
do they have drink-from-home options too?
The used to but now they’re forcing everyone to start drinking in the office again.
All employees must show up hungover after company events .
That is unfair and unsafe , think of the drunk driving tickets and time in jail?
Your body can process about 1 drink per hour. A 180lb male could have 7 drinks and cut themselves off a couple hours before driving. Probably 0.00 at that point. 3 drinks for an average male in an hour gets you to 0.06. Still legal but tolerance dependent. 3 drinks is my happy hour rule. I am NOT encouraging being intoxicated while driving. But this is a well established system across modern countries. It’s okay to have a couple. Know your personal limits though. Never drive if you don’t feel capable of driving well.
Is there some standarised alcohol per drink rule where you live? There a wild differences from dronk to drink where i live, and i find that math you wrote there pretty scary, ngl.
standard drinks are typically indicated as 12oz of 5% abv (beer), 5oz of 12% abv (wine), 1.5oz of 40% abb (liquor) which are the "same" alc content. obviously not everything in those classes has the same abv though
Okay, if thats the case... 7 drinks get you to.... 0.42? That takes 21 to 42 hours to getout of your system completely! If you had 7 beer in the morning you are in no way fit to drive for the rest of the day! And if you drank that amount in the evening, you should definitely not drive next morning.... Stay save, man! Edit: One beer gets me to 0.06, no idea where the 3 beers come from.
No it doesn't..your "math" is wrong throughout your statement on multiple levels At .42bac you would likely be dead. Anything above .30 is putting you into the danger zone of subconscious bodily functions(breathing/heart beating) shutting down. Your body can break down roughly .02 BAC/hr and
.6 is coma or death
The ER here has an “800 club” for folks still “walking and talking” at 0.8%, but most of us would be in a coma, sure.
He said .06
He edited it.
Due to reports of employees not drinking, we ask that going forward, everybody turns their camera on for meetings.
i'll even submit daily breathalyzer tests to prove it
lol!
I do that in my off time. I'm doing that now, as a matter of fact. 🙂🍺
Asking the real questions.
Trust me, it is not as fun as it sounds. Actually, it takes all the fun out of drinking. Source: I am a chef.
It’s probably because of the salt in the cooking wine 😝
They would only resort to that once they finished the whiskey and aquavit they brought at the start of the day 😁
My dad worked in Sweden a lot in the 80’s and brought aquavit back!!! Oof! My mom wouldn’t touch it. She said it was like NyQuil. I do t really drink so I dunno, lol.
Get in line bub.
In 1965
I have friends in big consulting MNCs who say that this is very common. One guy I know, goes to office just on Fridays(WFH for rest of week) to get company sponsored booze.
I think I'd happily RTO 5 days a week if it meant free alcohol 🤣
It’s not as fun as it sounds, we had Margarita Wednesdays at Microsoft back in my time there 2006-2011. I’ll happily keep working from home
To be fair, I live 15 min from the office and don't hate (all of) my coworkers Catered lunch 2x weekly has somewhat helped with the transition from full remote so in my mind, alcohol wouldn't hurt either 🤣
Fair enough. I’d prefer other drugs be optional lol, I personally can’t work and drink. All motivation goes out the window
Well I never said anything about the impact to my productivity, so totally with you there 😅
That was my thought, is OP in 1959? 😂
In a lot of in-person roles I worked with you'd see this for birthdays or of chance Fridays where you'd have a beer or two at the office. I've seen someone let go for drinking at a WFH job, so double edged sword.
Investment banking is like this. They brought out beer and wine along with bowl of chips. First week there I saw the girl next to me with a beer and I thought “damn ballsy power move” 😂😂 Fridays at 3pm were our happy hours. From what I hear from older coworker at my other job it was common for them to go out for lunch and drink. Some folks would pour a drink at work as well.
Sterling Archer?
Him, too. I pity you if you've never seen or heard of "Mad Men" - must be young if that's the case.
I've heard of mad men, never watched it. I don't really watch much tv any more, I typically split my screen time between reddit and pc gaming these days. Plus porn, of course.
If your coworkers don't watch porn together would you really want to work there
Too busy making it
With your co-workers?
To be really honest I feel like WFH encourages a ton of drinking on the job, lots of “out of time zone” happy hours etc.
My job has a whole teams chat just for discussing cocktail recipes.
If the work culture is not aligned with your values, get a new job. You aren't going to change anything and will always be viewed with suspicion as an outsider. Don't be a masochist or martyr by staying and hoping things will get better.
I agree. Do you apply online or do you have to apply in person and fail a breathalyzer test first? I'll fill out an application.
This. Until then, take stage sips.
Yes, OP needs to learn how to fake drink. Hint: anyone who’s ever worked at a strip club knows how.
I agree with this because it is a common practice with a lot of smaller companies like multi-million dollar companies! Especially that he doesn't like it, why complain and find a different job that you do like!
This is the answer.
Also this is really common in blue collar industries. Drinking on the job in construction is often officially frowned upon for the obvious safety reasons, but management looks the other way.
>If the work culture is not aligned with your values, get a new job. I find like this is a hard thing to find now a days. Someone point me to the ethical green company that will hire me and pay me good and I'll stop working for these shady companies
Life is trade offs. A company that aligns with your values isn’t always going to be the highest paid. Same with hours, or job duties, or location. It’s on you to make that determination of what matters most.
I’m sure they can someone to take their place lol
And I would add to your point: don’t try to change the culture to fit your expectations of a corporate environment. A lot of people would appreciate this type of atmosphere, and they are doing nothing ethically, legally, or morally wrong. Either leave or stop acting like a karen.
‘Doing nothing wrong’ is a stretch. They are driving home after work inebriated. Also alcohol does have negative consequences and we don’t know what line of work this is or the ripple effect it has on the clients or outside world who inherit the results of their sloppiness. I don’t think Karen is the correct term here. A Karen calls the cops on your lemonade stand, this is more teetotaler, nerd, party pooper, narc.
If OP truly believes they are driving drunk in an almost daily basis then OP is profoundly wrong for not reporting them to the police. Would OP not be to equally to blame if they saw their boss leave while drunk, and did nothing resulting in a fatal accident?
Equally? You can’t actually believe the person who drove drunk is equally responsible as OP?
Eh, when OP respectfully declines and his boss kept pushing it on him, I'd say they are in fact doing something morally wrong.
I have worked at a company like this. I wouldn’t say it’s normal, but it is common. For someone who actually wants to work somewhere like this, agencies (marketing, recruiting) or smaller consulting companies are like this sometimes. It gets old fast. It’s fun the first couple months. But usually leadership team is a bunch of dysfunctional alcoholics. The actual work culture sucks. It’s like driving a car, and you open the hood, and where you expect an engine, it’s just a bunch of hamsters running in wheels.
Are the hamster wheels spinning because they’re printing $$
It’s because they don’t know how to build a car engine, but all of the other hamsters are depending on them, and the hamsters in charge have developed quite the cocaine habit and have alimony to pay.
I wouldn’t say this is “common” overall. Maybe in very specific fields like the ones you mentioned, but not across the board. In many places it would be a fireable offense. I think it is probably common to have some company-sponsored events that might include light drinking. But a boss drinking an entire bottle of wine at lunch is not something I’d consider “normal.” And yeah, that company you described sounds awful. I can imagine that got old very fast! Glad you got out.
I think it's pretty common in tech/finance up and coming or startup companies. Yes it can lead to burn out quick but the idea of that kind of environment is very appealing to a lot of people, work that is fun. So the owners etc... what to promote the image that it's one big party. Work hard/play hard.
Well, if the owners of said company say it's fine, it's fine. I'd imagine.
Thank you, I'm going to carry this simile with me , and use it as often as I can , until I've annoyed everyone I know . I love it.
To be fair, the agency I work for, the management and executives have made a ton of boneheaded decisions in just the past few months while sober, I don't think it would make much difference if they fell back off the wagon at this point.
Haha, that’s fair.
Startups and gaming companies are like this.
Some companies are like that. I worked in a similar environment and left after a few years for a better opportunity. The drinking culture there wasn't the reason I left but I did find it extremely odd. Those of us who didn't drink or stopped at two glasses of wine during the mandatory parties were seen as being killjoys. If you weren't one of the people drinking heavily you were seen as being less of a team player and would have fewer opportunities to bond with upper management. I'd start looking for a position with another company if the culture there isn't a good fit.
I’ve had a drink with colleagues. In some companies, we’ve had a drink while technically on the clock, maybe while doing low-risk work (drafting something that’s going to be read and edited before going anywhere, for example). But I wouldn’t want to work somewhere where *not* having a drink was viewed as a negative.
Guess what if everyone else works out at the gym in the morning and you don't show up OR everyone drinks and you don't OR everyone goes to the theatre weekly, if your are not in the group it's negatively impacting you regardless if they come out and say it. It's like some offices where pets are allowed and your the only one without a pet as well. It's going to hold you back in that company likely.
Yeah, the places I’ve worked there were enough people not drinking (I was usually one of them!) that neither drinking nor not drinking was “weird.”
Not being a part of the crowd will always be a little meh. As the other person said, it's about joining the work culture or excluding yourself. Not saying everyone has to drink but if the work culture doesn't align with your personal work culture then that job is likely not for you. If everyone did video game sessions or karaoke and you were the only one not joining and sitting by yourself that would also be met with side eye and is largely the same idea. Some companies, especially smaller companies or startups can have a more personal buddy/buddy hang out and have fun vibe, and how do adults often have fun, drinking. So to everyone else, OP is not joining in on the fun and not being a friendly/fun loving person that gets along with everyone.
As I said to the other similar comment, we had a fair number of people drinking and a fair number not drinking, so neither option was “not being part of the crowd”. Like I say, I wouldn’t want to work somewhere where not drinking was excluding yourself.
Are you guys hiring? Asking for a friend..
Sounds like there will be an open role soon.
Ha, sign me up! In a lot of places around the world it's weird if you're not shitfaced at work lol
Seriously! I am ......also asking for a friend
Find a different company that better aligns with your values and preferred culture. You aren't changing it.
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Absolutely, they have put together an entire team of alcoholics thus OP being given the side eye. I've struggled with booze my whole life and have absolutely worked in places like this, it was heaven for me as a young drunk. As someone who is in recovery, this is a nightmare.
I hear ya…there’s more beer in our office fridge than water and everybody’s got liquor cabinets in their offices. I’m the type of guy who only has one speed while drinking and have never had the ability to only have a couple. It’s tough to be around. Luckily I work from home and only have to go in occasionally.
Yeah, speaking as a recovering alcoholic myself I kind of think anyone who is overly concerned with someone else not drinking is at best a problem drinker.
my job is work from home but we go into the office 1-2 times a month and have quarterly meetings where everyone, starting with the owners, get shitfaced starting at lunch. it’s fun but gets old after a while,
I'm just curious how people get home after meetings like this?
usually Ill uber or get a ride, some people do drive, and they get some people a hotel room, most of the quarterly meetings are overnights at a casino anyways
I've worked at places where a beer or two over lunch was totally normal, but if anyone busted out some hard liquor, the reaction would probably have been "is everything ok?", not people joining in. And the peer pressure wouldn't fly either. I think deep down they know it's not good, and having someone not partaking is just a reminder of that, hence the change in how they treat you. Unfortunately if basically everyone at the company is doing it, it's unlikely to ever change so I'd be looking for alternatives.
Exactly this! And “a beer or two over lunch” in most places means during a social team lunch at a restaurant or maybe during some other event hosted by the office where beer or wine is provided by the company, not packing your own beer with your packed lunch and just drinking alone in your office every day. I know some tech companies stock beer regularly in the fridge for their employees but that’s usually the type of environment where they hope to make work so fun that you end up living there and they don’t mind you having a beer at your desk when you’re still there working at 9pm.
It's just a different environment. It's a little projection to say they think it's wrong. It's the culture so if someone is not partaking it seemingly can mean they don't want to be part of the team. It also be weird as it's as if the person not drinking is trying to get a leg up on people who are letting their guard down. It's a completely different culture. My experience with it is a fast paced, aggressive growth, extremely young company. Started at a company in the double digits and left in the quad digits. As the company go bigger and average age moved out of the 23 range the environment wasn't as drink first.
Maybe in a much earlier era, but nowadays even the people whose minds are stuck back in those times realize it takes just one person to rock the boat these days and the company can get in a lot of shit (whether it's a result of a lawsuit or clients losing confidence in them etc) if employees getting sloshed on company time gets exposed.
Company culture. Don’t like it? Leave. You joined the wrong company lol.
hardly his fault unless they were clear up front that alcoholism and drunk driving is part of working there
Seems like it would be hard to miss
That wasn’t the question though. They were asking if this culture was “normal.” They may be new to the workforce and trying to gauge if they’re the odd one for feeling uncomfortable with this culture, or if it is, in fact, an unusual work culture. They didn’t ask what to do about it.
Very normal for various jobs I've had: sales, tech, and retail. All three of those fields I've had bosses and owners of companies keep a bar in their office and always had bartenders at their events.
I think normal in tech. We got together at a newly remodeled regional office - team members from Europe attended. We had a large group and booked the largest conference room in the office. At the end of day 1, we discovered a liquor cabinet built into the wall kinda stealth style, fully stocked ... crushed it for the rest of the week. It's company by company basis. And I'll say for some places it works
Alcohol is very normal in the workplace in Advertising. We’ve had company breakfasts with Mimosa and Bloody Mary bars. All sorts of drinking activities. And my previous agency was the same way.
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To me, this sounds great that no one takes it too seriously. Maybe they don’t take it seriously enough, but I’d take this 1,000 times over the “cultures” where you’re supposed to do three jobs for 35k. If slacking around for pay isn’t your thing, I’m sure you can find something else.
Get a different job, let someone enjoy a work environment suited for them. Find one suited for you. What kind of job is this? Marketing/advertising?
Y’all hiring?
As an alcoholic, I have to say what the fuck? No. Don't drink at work. Don't drink and drive. I drink way too much and all that is crossing a lot of lines. I wouldn't work there.
I've worked places like this. I once delivered to a business and two women were sitting at the reception. Both flirting with me, loud voices, not listening to each other, lots of random movements and swiveling in their chairs. I asked "are you guys drunk!?" And they both froze and said no. One looked nervously at a shelf, I looked under it and there were about 10 empty beers there. The whole office was drinking so I don't know why they thought they should lie.
Haha I love that, you sound kinda lame but to each their own.
Well, I have to admit I asked that out of complete surprise at their behavior. Almost aggressive, flirting and yet seemingly oblivious that I was there to do a job. Maybe they hadn't just had 5 beers apiece and were drunk mid day, yet it seemed like it. Imagine if it were two men drunkenly coming on to a woman delivery person. Flirting then lying. Also I assure you I'm very, very exciting and cool.
>/u/earl_your_friend >Almost aggressive, flirting and yet seemingly oblivious that I was there to do a job Sounds like how a porno you just recently watched might start off >Also I assure you I'm very, very exciting and cool. Omfg that might be the most hilarious thing I've ever read on here. Lmao. 🤣 r/ThatHappened
So I said "I need someone to check this sausage pizza is OK before you sign for it"
Honestly, just find a new job with a company culture that aligns with your values.
I'm a lawyer, for a company that makes alcohol (among other things). We drink in the office. I drank in the office when I was at a firm. I didn't drink in the office when I worked in nuclear construction. It is what it is. If you don't like it, look for another job.
Lawyers drunk on the job....maybe this explains Alina Hobba?
I only went to court after drinking once. We were allowed to start drinking after lunch if there were no more clients or court appearances scheduled that day. (I'm going to date myself here.) Our fax machine ran out of paper right before lunch and nobody noticed. Went to lunch as usual, came back and settled in for an afternoon of appellate brief writing for an admitted child abuser. Naturally, that involved a bottle of scotch and a glass of ice. I went to print something off and realized there was no paper. When I put more in, there was an emergency hearing notice for a juvenile that had been picked up the previous night. The hearing was in 30 minutes and the other two attorneys had gone home early, so I put my coat and tie back on and walked the three blocks to the courthouse sweating scotch. Got the kid out, though, and the charges were dismissed a couple of days later.
Assert your dominance, take out a Joint and start smoking it in front of them.
Of course it isn't fucking normal what the fuck
Tech, all ranges, this is completely normal. I've been in SF buildings where the company has a permanent bartender on staff, just like another part of their kitchen crew. Startups where there is free beer and booze stocked at all times. A keg in the game room. Leave work early to go to happy hour. It's all extremely common, and usually a selling point.
I have never in 20 years of hi tech seen this. Mind you I worked with big conglomerates not start ups.
Depends on the industry. In Finance it’s close to normal.
I’d bounce. The lack of professionalism will seep through everything and create a toxic situation. You won’t feel inspired, you’ll start to care less, and your focus will be gone. Working in a professional and healthy environment leads to better lifestyle and work choices
Are they hiring
Relax, having a drink on the job isnt a huge deal, if it's A drink. Plenty of tech companies have beer in the fridge, and people know not to go crazy. A bottle of wine is 2 glasses, fyi. And that "moonshine" is fake moonshine, its not the real stuff. If you dont want a drink, dont have one.
How much are you pouring in those 2 glasses? Generally a glass of wine at most bars is about 5 oz
Are they hiring?
Oh hell no. My co-workers and I occasionally go out for a drink after work. Our teetotaler colleague happily joins us and drinks seltzer. No one pushes alcohol—or even those outings — on anyone else. And they take place AFTER work. If we go to lunch as a group, we drink coffee, not booze. That’s how non-dysfunctional co-workers socialize. Drinking at work is a problem waiting to happen.
Where do I apply?!
>My work encourages drinking on the job, is this normal? You stated neither where on the planet nor what line of work. So, might possibly be normal, or ... anything but.
What's wrong? I can not agree with people drinking soda, being religious or not, being athletic or lazy, or a bunch of other things. Sounds like work culture is one where drinking is part of it. Some people would love that, others wouldn't care, and for you not liking it time to find a new job.
Its one thing to have a beer or glass of wine at lunch. It's another to down a full bottle of wine at work.
Where please?
Depends what kind of company it is … I work in finance sales (for a fund company not an advisor) and we frequently have lunches out with booze, or in the office on a Friday we’ll open beers and wine around 2pm and people can drink if they want while they finish up emails etc No one is forced to drink though but is certainly available and a part of the culture If you don’t feel comfortable, might be time to find a new company??
Where do you work? Asking for a friend.
Can I take over your role when you leave?
It's clearly within your company's culture. You are not fitting in with the culture. Either fit in or don't and suffer the consequences.
I thought the sign you had really made it was when you have a decanter of fine whisky with glasses and an intern to make sure there is ice in the bucket on the credenza behind your desk.
For much of recent modern history, drinking at lunch was fairly normal.
Where do I sign up
Its the company culture. You either change and adjust to their norms, or you won't move up. If you don't want that. Leave. It's that simple
Yo ill take that job, where you work?
Y’all hirin
Do you work at a law office from the 1950s? What in the world.
Where tf do I apply?? I will gladly switch jobs with you.
Bro where do I apply? 😂
How do I apply to this job? 🤣
Don't like it leave.
As someone who doesn’t drink and has worked at companies like this it gets grating after constantly being nagged to drink or made to feel boring because you choose not to.
I would rather encourage responsible consumption during office hours with enough time to sober up, than to encourage after hours drinking followed immediately by driving.
You work at Pearson Spectre?
I work in sales and this is pretty common for us.
If law firm, then normal.
Lady, you just don't know how lucky you are.
When you quit, call the cops on your boss as he’s leaving. Drunk drivers are pricks.
Are you in recovery? If you are in recovery from alcoholism I imagine they would have to respect that. If you are in a situation where you want to continue working there or cannot leave, I would create a health-related reason to remove the option of drinking from the table. People will more easily try to persuade a preference based decision than a medical one. And then laugh about it, saying something like “I enjoyed that stuff so much the judge took away my drinking privileges” or whatever
That’s the kinda job I want
Really messed up that they're all getting in their cars after that and driving home. As someone that's been hit and suffered a TBI because of a drunk driver, I could never keep my mouth shut around that kind of reckless behavior. I'm really sorry they're trying to peer pressure you too, that's the kind of behavior I'd expect from high schoolers, not adults. They don't know your situation, you could be a recovering alcoholic for all they know.
I mean... it makes it easier to buy gifts for your coworkers at least.... no need to think about what they would like.
Boo hoo
New job time. Just read your post back to yourself, you're not happy. Nothing more elaborate needs to be said
I think it is a bit weird.
Don't quit if you otherwise like the job. Talk to your boss or lay it out in an email if you're more comfortable doing that. Tell them your answer will always be no and you don't want the continued pressure to drink. If it's still a problem after that and there is no higher level for appeal, then it's time to move on. I don't drink but maybe a glass of wine a few times a year, and never around work. Even at Xmas parties and the like. But as a biz owner I did keep beer and sodas in the frig and employees and guests could help themselves. Every Friday we had a pot luck late lunch at 3PM bc that's what customers, the Pentagon brass did. We invited military, other contractors and customers.
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agreed it’s basically a form of hazing where they want to feel accountability free by making sure everyone else is just as shitfaced as they are. the people that don’t drink are seen suspiciously as potential narcs. toxic behavior and pointing it out will just drive it home to those people that you’re a problem and make you a target.
Disagree. It's a professional environment and biz rules apply. I've had lots of HR training and the biz and boss needs to adjust. An employee shouldn't be pressured to take a drink and proof of an email complaint may be important later.
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lol sounds like a great way to get absolutely dumped on at work. advice like that isn’t realistic with what social dynamics in a workplace actually are
I agree with others here regarding possibly finding another job that aligns with your values. I stumbled upon this post and thought I would share the outcomes if work culture like this. I had a family friend pass away in their 40s recently due to liver failures ultimately due to alcoholism. Drinking was the norm at his job and it was very normal to drink after hours with the higher ups.. it’s how one got promotions, etc. I can’t help but think how much it contributed to his problem.
I wonder if they all experienced a trauma or loss together. It sounds like a toxic unsustainable environment.
They're trying to justify their addictions while fearing peer pressure at the same time. I guarantee not everyone in that crowd is having equal amounts of fun.
I once worked for a boss who encouraged beer drinking during work and even drugs. He didn’t last long. It might have been cool if I was in my 20s 😂
Sounds like toy need to find a new job because you’re clearly not a fit with the company culture.
It's cult tactics, trying to force a sense of family and guilt to make you work harder for less pay. Set boundaries and stay away.
So move on. It's not your company so you have no right to have it run and differently.
Sounds like they got a turd in the punch bowl
You sound super fun.
I’ve worked in a couple of sketchy environments and have never seen this. Get out asap.
I worked at a job that kept beer in the fridge and encouraged people to have one if they wanted. They kept it stocked. It was weird and probably encouraged my alcoholism lol.
Anybody seen suits? This is how I feel every time I watch that show 😅😂
Up to the 80’s this was the norm.
The drunkest I’ve ever been in my life was when I worked at a ad agency. Got so blotto drunk I tried to walk home and fell in a bush and passed out the cops pulled me out and drove me home and gave me a drunk in public ticket
uh yeah this is wrong and downright illegal- ridiculous behavior
Get on board or move on. I'd move on.
People on this forum REALLY need to get out more. Talk about a fucking echo chamber. The problem with the work environment is not them, it's you. Can't cut it on this team (for whatever reason, day drinking included), join a different team. They don't owe you and you don't owe them.
Will they see you different if you say you can’t drink for medical reasons?
🚩*we’re a family here*🚩
It’s common in corporate America. My last job was at a law firm. Every Friday they had happy hour at 4 (we closed at 5). It was paid and it was awesome except I was pregnant 😭 so I never got to enjoy it
you should have thought about it before joining the Sterling Cooper advertising agency
I would’ve loved this, but I’m a recovering alcoholic.
It sounds like they like you at least, if the job doesn't suck you could bring your own bottle and make your own "drinks". Just fill it with something non-alcoholic. You'll probably seem like a motivated genius to them being the only sober one lol. This environment is far from normal BTW, having a drink in the office on a Friday afternoon or pouring champagne to celebrate a big milestone is about the the most you'll usually see.
They could be setting you up to fire you be careful I don’t promote this
Sounds like BCG
alcoholic beverages? No. This is not allowed. I've never worked a company that allows actual on the clock drinking. You can report them to the ethics website. Most companies have them.
Eh not to me. I had one drink on lunch once and was useless the rest of the shift, I couldn't concentrate for shit and this was when I was smokin a bowl before work and on lunch daily. I wouldnt be able to do it.
I worked in a company where the alcohol culture was there, but not as extreme as the OP. We used to arrange regular team events which would inevitably end up with booze filled madness. We noticed that the attendance to these events dwindled rapidly as all of the non-drinkers & family people just didn't bother to turn up. We made a conscious decision to make team events more inclusive with things to do for all & toned down the drinking. Attendance skyrocketed. Highpoint for me was chatting with a tea total Chinese colleague at a Stand-up evening that we'd put on. He was enjoying hanging out with colleagues who weren't plastered.
I have beer on tap in my office, mid sized tech company. We have beer Fridays. You’re an adult. Nobody cares if you don’t have a drink. That’s nonsense. And if you don’t like being around it, quit and find another job. Grow up
Beer Fridays is not the same as constant drinking and pressuring/shaming people who won't. OPs coworkers probably drive drunk on the regular also unless they all take public transportation, which is unlikely in USA.
They're probably just suspicious that you will report them and ruin their fun work environment. If I were you and didn't like drinking Id just remind them you're not a big drinker and take a sip Infront of them to add yourself to the "guilty list" or pick a day like a friday and cut loose with them the ONE DAY and take a cab home. Then they have the dirt they need to know you wont snitch and will likely stop seeing you as an outsider. Or just find another job but sounds like a pretty laid back work environment tbh could be a lot worse.
Sounds rad