What would be the acceptability of this in your workplace? For context, which country and industry are you in?
I guess I’m mainly thinking about professional jobs, but interested to hear from. I think in France it would be quite common to have a glass of wine, even at a work canteen or so. But in the UK it seems like people would think that was a problem, and in a lot of cases you’d be in violation of something at work.
Why wait till lunch?
After all, you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.
Cant agree more.
You can’t start drinking if you never stop
That’s the spirit!
I work in healthcare in the UK. I don’t even drink on week nights let alone over lunch. I agree over here drinking at lunch would probably be seen as a problem.
I think a big part of that is the UK binge drink culture. Most people over here drink a lot in one go to get drunk as the goal.
Off topic but your name is amazing
Thanks, I came up with it in secondary school and have been using it since.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it
Canadian IT worker.
I refuse to drink at work parties. Everyone else does and I get some peer pressure to drink but I don’t care. Its normal to see people get super drunk and embarrass themselves which is why I don’t even start.
Specifically at lunch, if I’m not driving and others are having a beer I will but only one. If I’m driving, it depends on how I’m feeling.
Working from home I’ve been known to have a beer or two on a Friday afternoon by my self.
When I left my last job we had a meeting at the end of the day with the guys I got along with and anyone they wanted to invite. There was about 15 people from different departments with their cameras on having a drink or smoking (pot) if they didn’t drink as a goodbye. Was a nice goodbye. Lol
I’ve drank, and got drunk, at exactly one work function in my current capacity. The living hell that was a day of serious meetings with 3 hours of sleep and a wicked hangover/still being drunk has made all other functions water and bed by 9:30 affairs.
Luckily everyone in the meetings had either made the same mistake before, or were functioning alcoholics, so the fallout was just being a pile of misery.
If a VP decides to take everyone for drinks at a club after the official function, at absolute most show up to nurse one drink then leave. Do not be the last one out the door.
I don’t drink but if I did I’d never drink at a work social. I leave work socials early to avoid any drunkenness because there are 535356 ways it can go wrong.
Way 535354: coworker gets really drunk, as does the owners wife. Coworker later fired for sleeping with owners wife. Like that you mean?
Haha yep that’s on the list
US, audit & tax
Once in a blue moon, on a really nice day, we would get a patio table and have a margarita with lunch. Only if it was a slow work day, like with nothing but webinars scheduled for the afternoon (as attendees, not presenters).
It was not uncommon to see beer in the office fridge during tax season because those folks would be pulling 15+ hour days for pretty much 3 months straight.
Product designer/engineer in the US
If the team is going out to lunch to celebrate a special occasion, then a single drink has always been fine in the teams I worked with. I don’t partake anymore because it makes me really sleepy in the afternoon.
I worked at one company that hosted a weekly happy hour. I was one of the employees who took turns setting up the kegs in the common room, and pouring drinks during the event. That was a fun place. The extra social time really improved some working relationships. And we got a surprising amount of productive work done just by talking for an hour or two while standing around sipping microbrews and wine.
Chef/owner & I’ve stayed away from the ‘glass of wine when you cook’ because I have grown attached to my fingers. I like to relax when I drink, so it’s either when I’m off or after we shut down.
Currently in Spain, probably going to end my career here and drinking is very different from where I grew up.
Lunch is at 9am, and it’s common to see people having a beer (followed by coffee)
People tend to nurse drinks, it’s a more social thing, and if they get buzzed it’s usually low key and don’t get too sloppy- however I’ve seen holiday parties for businesses get everyone wasted…and fiestas all bets are off, lol.
I love it here.
What time is breakfast?
tostada and coffee at 730-8 lunch 9-11 comida (brunch) 14h marinda (sp?) 17-18h (coffee, sweet cake or pastry) dinner 21-23h
summertime we have reservations up until 23h for dinner
most nights in the summer are English/n. Europeans 19h-21h, then the Spanish hit us. good times…it’s an American BBQ joint so it will be interesting to see how the boycotts suss out…
seriously fuck trump
US Freelance Video Editor. Extremely common, some of us even had mini bars in their offices. WFH changed all that though.
We have alcohol at my workplace so this happens sometimes. Just be responsible.
Depends on what the boss does, but if I’m the most senior person, and especially if it’s a conference or lunch meeting with someone I know well, and the itemized bill isn’t required for reimbursement, sure thing. Have many times.
Some older companies have policies in place that define appropriate circumstances under which staff can have 1 drink during duty hours and it not be an actionable offense.
In the U.S. this has changed a bit over the years. I believe, based on watching Mad Men, that it used to be super common for people to drink and have alcohol at work, let alone at lunch. A friend of my dad used to take his Playboy subscription at work because he didn’t want it to be available to his kids. Try that these days!
In the 90s, I worked at a job were it wasn’t uncommon to have a drink with lunch, especially when we were out with our Managing Director.
In the 2000s it was essentially something you’d get fired for.
Now? My current job (IT in the aviation industry) wouldn’t allow it but there are apparently a lot of start ups that bring beer around to people’s desks on Friday afternoons.
It was for the articles!
Yes, I drink almost exclusively at lunch.
I find a lot of benefits to this schedule too. Mainly, less likely to over indulge, and less impact on sleep quality.
Part of my job involves operate hoists that are lifting several tonnes over the general public. Anything that is even impairment adjacent, like being tired, will get you removed from that position. If you are actually impaired you’re fired no questions.
Almost was crushed cause of a rigger 👍🏼. I’d never work with a drunk one.
UK IT dev here. When I started working in the field back in 2000ish it was perfectly fine for IT staff to pop to the pub. Did for many years. Then in my 20s it became normal to have drinks after work rather than during work. Then when marriage etc came along, it became neither.
I went back to work once (programming) after a couple of beers at the bar. Turns out not a job I can do while drinking.
Obligatory
My current job is WFH, so no one would know or care. But I previously had a safety sensitive job that held us to either the same or higher standards as the federal Dept of Transportation. They were so strict that we had posters advising against drinking kombucha at lunch or using pure CBD products at all. My SO at the time had a CBD balm that I would put gloves on to help apply because I didn’t want to risk it. The company said that while these products were likely fine, if an accident or something happened and we had to then take a drug test, any registerable amount would be grounds for immediate dismissal with no recourse.
