Jesus.....how are you still sober?

[Al Swearegen]

SO things have been more than a little rough (and no I do not want to go into that) BUT tonight we (my work) went to our Christmas do at Teppinyaki at a Japanese place.

We went to drinks before at a local tradies bar. I knocked off three bourbon and cola stubbies then went to the Japanese joint and knocked off two double vodkas and three or four sakes and a couple more bourbons and cokes.

On leaving to go back to the Tradies. A number of the work crew stated that they did not know how I was still sober and scurrilous work gossip about the state of a 6'3" guy there who was far from sober ensued. (which I did not enter into - each to their own) seemed the talking point.

Is having a few drinks warranted at work dos? If so how many? How drunk should I be? Does it even really matter?

By the time the hangers-on were at the tradies bar, it did not seem to matter. I won at the pokies and so even after drinks. I was about $30 dollars down for the night so it seemed like a reasonable exchange.

I do not want to cop shit on Monday and I was hoping for some kind of a measure as to how to tiptoe around this drinking at work dos thing (I was kind of hoping my double vodkas were mistaken for water but that did not happen either.

[Pyraxis]

Not sure I have any useful advice. I'm pretty much a lightweight and more likely to get shit for not drinking than for drinking.

I do hear about people on the team who are notorious for getting plastered at work Christmas parties and such. Some of them own it and freely laugh about it. The stories focus on crazy behavior though.

If it's drinking cause things have been rough, a passing mention that life has been shit might be enough to ward off jokes. It also depends on work culture. You might have to pace yourself to them more in order to attract less attention.

[Al Swearegen]

Not sure I have any useful advice. I'm pretty much a lightweight and more likely to get shit for not drinking than for drinking.

I do hear about people on the team who are notorious for getting plastered at work Christmas parties and such. Some of them own it and freely laugh about it. The stories focus on crazy behavior though.

If it's drinking cause things have been rough, a passing mention that life has been shit might be enough to ward off jokes. It also depends on work culture. You might have to pace yourself to them more in order to attract less attention.

Yes, I was wondering if after I left their orbit whether the gossiping reserved for that other member will turn on me. I do not like that kind of thing an do not really engage in it myself. That other guy I was talking about is a big guy with obviously not a huge tolerance and that in itself is interesting but he was not falling down drunk or really doing much more than staggering a bit and slurring his words. Not a really big deal. Gossiping always feels a little petty and deceitful. I feel really awkward around it.

Yes, what you said is probably right too. Both with the "life being shit" thing and matching their pace. Because they were all for the most part, drinking. Hard to know where the line is or how "drunk" to act?I think maybe the point is to stay under the radar and no one will have to consider what someone has drunk? I dunno?

[odeon]

I'd say it depends. A couple of drinks with work mates can be perfectly acceptable if your employer has that kind of culture and nothing bad happens--drinking too many and owning it the day after is fine and a source of more than a few sympathetic laughs in those cases--but if the night out results in bad things, that same culture might turn on you.

Some backstabbing environments will turn on you anyway, of course. The ones I have experience of were places where I avoided the drinks to begin with.

Guessing the acceptable number of drinks will differ from one place to the other and also depend on the country. The UK differs from Sweden that differs from Finland, etc.

I worked at a small company a couple of years ago where our boss--the company CEO--would organise drinks every few months and effectively set the pace. It was great fun. As we were a small and tight-knit group, we did this for years and continued to do this regularly even after most of us, including our boss, had left the company.

[Minister Of Silly Walks]

If you are known for using a sensible number of words in sentences that people are easily able to determine the meaning of, and you start using enormous numbers of words in incomprehensible combinations, then people may be inclined to blame it on the alcohol.

If you happen to start from the latter position and revert to the former, then I'm not sure whether people would blame the alcohol. If you happen to start from the latter position and continue with the latter position after a couple of dozen alcoholic beverages, I can't see why there would be a problem.

The drinking culture in the typical modern workplace has changed enormously over the past 2 or 3 decades. Where I work we get emails before any event where alcohol may be consumed telling us that if we feel affected by alcohol then we should approach a designated person who will look after us. A friend of mine ended up in hospital after a work Xmas function about 25 years ago where he drank so much that he ended up with a blood alcohol content above 0.4%, and he was told that if his heart had stopped beating they wouldn't have been legally required to try to revive him (which, TBH, they likely said only to scare him).

[Al Swearegen]

If you are known for using a sensible number of words in sentences that people are easily able to determine the meaning of, and you start using enormous numbers of words in incomprehensible combinations, then people may be inclined to blame it on the alcohol.

If you happen to start from the latter position and revert to the former, then I'm not sure whether people would blame the alcohol. If you happen to start from the latter position and continue with the latter position after a couple of dozen alcoholic beverages, I can't see why there would be a problem.

The drinking culture in the typical modern workplace has changed enormously over the past 2 or 3 decades. Where I work we get emails before any event where alcohol may be consumed telling us that if we feel affected by alcohol then we should approach a designated person who will look after us. A friend of mine ended up in hospital after a work Xmas function about 25 years ago where he drank so much that he ended up with a blood alcohol content above 0.4%, and he was told that if his heart had stopped beating they wouldn't have been legally required to try to revive him (which, TBH, they likely said only to scare him).

The guy in question even before the work do, had one of the ladies at work tell him he talks a lot of shit when he drinks, which he willingly owned. Me? I have a bit of a laugh and share and listen to anecdotes and have fun. My sense of humour comes to the fore and people around me have fun. Sloppy and maudlin drunk I am not, nor aggro.

[Al Swearegen]

I'd say it depends. A couple of drinks with work mates can be perfectly acceptable if your employer has that kind of culture and nothing bad happens--drinking too many and owning it the day after is fine and a source of more than a few sympathetic laughs in those cases--but if the night out results in bad things, that same culture might turn on you.

Some backstabbing environments will turn on you anyway, of course. The ones I have experience of were places where I avoided the drinks to begin with.

Guessing the acceptable number of drinks will differ from one place to the other and also depend on the country. The UK differs from Sweden that differs from Finland, etc.

I worked at a small company a couple of years ago where our boss--the company CEO--would organise drinks every few months and effectively set the pace. It was great fun. As we were a small and tight-knit group, we did this for years and continued to do this regularly even after most of us, including our boss, had left the company.

I think to be honest, and I am going to sound a bit spazzy but I find it a bit difficult to gauge these kind of things. There was a lot of talk that we were all going to have drinks and it was embraced with enthusiasm. We were going to have drinks beforehand and a portion of our social club would pay for the meal with the balance going towards Sake and champagne. Most drank something.

So my understanding was it was big drinking thing and a send off for the year. That is why I was thrown a little by the gossiping afterwards and felt a little singled out by people having obviously observed the amount of drinks I threw down my throat and how sober I appeared. It seemed to run counter to the whole point of thing and once again I feel a bit without a point of context. I honestly do not know if that will be mentioned tomorrow and if so in what way or whether it will simply be, "What time did you get home?" kind of thing.

Don't get social rules or people. I also dislike being confused and having no point of reference. I am not so good at winging such things.

[Pyraxis]

Could it have been a compliment? Like maybe you earned yourself a reputation for being able to hold liquor, and as long as you acknowledge that's now part of people's impression of you, it'll be fine next time around?

[Al Swearegen]

Could it have been a compliment? Like maybe you earned yourself a reputation for being able to hold liquor, and as long as you acknowledge that's now part of people's impression of you, it'll be fine next time around?

Had not thought of that. I will find out in a couple of hours I guess. It would be so much easier if people all thought what I think.

[Pyraxis]

It would be so much easier if people all thought what I think.

 

[odeon]

Where I work we get emails before any event where alcohol may be consumed telling us that if we feel affected by alcohol then we should approach a designated person who will look after us.

Haven't worked anywhere that advanced. How do they pick these designated persons?

[Minister Of Silly Walks]

Where I work we get emails before any event where alcohol may be consumed telling us that if we feel affected by alcohol then we should approach a designated person who will look after us.

Haven't worked anywhere that advanced. How do they pick these designated persons?

It's basically to cover the company's butt in case of some alcohol-related sh*t going down.

In my experience it tends to be someone from HR who doesn't drink, and perhaps another senior person (chosen by HR) who doesn't drink.

[odeon]

Babysitters for adults. I love it.

[Jack]

Have read more than two drinks puts most people's blood levels over the legal limit for driving so more than two would be noticed as a concern for someone driving, but it's difficult to put out there in conversation.  They may not have really been asking if you were sober, but rather saying you weren't.

[Al Swearegen]

Well, it appears the people making all the chatter and gossip were actually a little inebriated and complaining about how they felt yesterday and the only chatter about it today was someone who spilled food and what time everyone got home.

It seemed it was just them rambling after a few drinks. I could not really pick up on who had drunk what and am not a good judge on such things anyway. I am pretty happy with that. I had not experienced the gossipy side of things in the workplace and it is not something I am really comfortable with.

Much ado about nothing as it turns out. Happy with that.