Topic: Workplace drinking

[AndyInVA]

An old mate used to work for CU. he may have been an underwriter but not sure
Someone in their office was always in at 8, then at 1 he was off for a few pints, back usually 2.30-3 then away by 4. Train home and in his local until about 7 or 8. They let him get on with it because between 8 & 1 he shifted more work than most people did in not just one day, often 2.

Its almost certainly the same guy. He was close to retirement, knew the business inside out, was basically a really nice guy, worked hard in the mornings and made a pile of money for the business. His only vice was booze so to speak. It was a younger office back then and the drinking culture was leaving and it was really the old sweats who would meet in the bars at lunch. My best memory was of this guy in his chair, in full view of the office with his head back in his chair totally fast asleep and still holding a cup of tea in one hand. The main boss of that entire level was in a closed off office next to his desk and people use to come and go all afternoon from the main bosses office and everyone use to walk past this fast asleep underwriter like it was all perfectly normal.

[Alf]

When I worked in the financial sector between 2001-2011, it was absolute carnage. At least 3 pints every dinner time and 2 nights per week drinking until the last man was standing. I recall us doing pub golf & 4 of us got to the 18th pub having done every drink in one go. So we had a race on a pint of Fosters which a lad who used to be in the TA won. We carried on drinking afterwards an all. Couldn’t drink half that amount now & not really anyone where I work with I’d want more than a couple of pints with.

[stewy17]

I work in the music industry and it's probably as expected (though I'd imagine nowhere near the halcyon days of the '90s). The only thing really is that the drinking tends to be with the handbrake on Monday-Thursday because lots of people are hungover from gigs etc the night before.

Pub lunches are usually Thursday/Friday then always office beers Friday evening. My current place isn't as bad as my old place. The sales team there used to leave for lunch at midday on a Friday and not reappear until 5:30, check emails, and then straight back to the alehouse. I think I joined once or twice but otherwise just have one or two. I'm a lawyer so more than two pints and I'm basically defunct.

[Indomitable_Carp]

The only jobs where I´ve consistently drank are in kitchens where drinking during shifts and during breaks has been pretty common, and nearly always during the after service clear up..

The only other times I´ve really drank on the job was working construction in Australia, where you´d sometimes have a couple of beers between jobs if you were working on domestic sites.

[Jake]

I had a pint on my lunch yesterday, told the lass im seeing and she was absolutely shocked. Guess it is very much dependent on which industry you're in.

[redbyrdz]

Was thinking about this, and how much more stress there is at work now. People must have lost a good 5-10 hours of worktime a week, and still got their jobs done. Nowadays everybody eats at their desks and still ends up taking work home.

[Red_Mist]

Was thinking about this, and how much more stress there is at work now. People must have lost a good 5-10 hours of worktime a week, and still got their jobs done. Nowadays everybody eats at their desks and still ends up taking work home.

I think you’re right there. Okay, so your GP probably wouldn’t recommend a few pints in the pub every lunchtime, but that place I mentioned in the early 90s was a brilliant laugh in the afternoons. We still got the work done but the volume and laughter went up (as it does if you see a group of people in the pub any other time). Work was just so much more sociable.

A consequence was a togetherness. When the Reds got to Wembley in ‘92, we got a bus together and all went down to watch them lift the cup. A brilliant day, with workmates! There was only two blues out of an office of about 30, and one of them came too! Maybe stuff like that still happens, I dunno.

[KillieRed]

When I started working in an office for the first time (1988), we’d all go to the local pub for lunch. I was designated driver back then but most guys had a pint or two in the hour. The boss had a bottle of whisky in his drawer & the big bosses a fully stocked cabinet. About 40-50% of people still smoked then & were allowed to do so at their desks, which I found crazy & annoying.

[Crosby Nick]

When I started working in an office for the first time (1988), we’d all go to the local pub for lunch. I was designated driver back then but most guys had a pint or two in the hour. The boss had a bottle of whisky in his drawer & the big bosses a fully stocked cabinet. About 40-50% of people still smoked then & were allowed to do so at their desks, which I found crazy & annoying.

I worked with a guy who worked in France for a year as part of his university course and said they’d have a classic two hour lunch with a couple of bottles of red wine and all sit around smoking. No confirmation on whether they chomped onions and said “oh-hee-hah-he-hah” as well (that’s not racist, that’s a fact).

[Drinks Sangria]

I worked with a guy who worked in France for a year as part of his university course and said they’d have a classic two hour lunch with a couple of bottles of red wine and all sit around smoking. No confirmation on whether they chomped onions and said “oh-hee-hah-he-hah” as well (that’s not racist, that’s a fact).

Were they wearing breton-striped shirts and necklaces of Garlic? That's the only way to tell if he had the authentic experience.