The politics of the work drinks

The good old Friday night drinks after work. I have personally found that when you are in a small company these drinks are a bit more enjoyable. When you work as part of a large organisation then you tend to get lost in the crowd,  especially if you are new.

When working for a small company it is always great to finish work for the week and go to the pub with what become your mates. There aren’t that many of you and unless you are a social recluse or a complete weirdo, the chances are you will get along with most people. Now obviously if you work with one other person and you can’t stand each other the chances of going for drinks are slim but those cases are few. When you work for a smaller company you can be a lot busier as they are trying to grow and the work load that they get is shared over less people. This makes that first sip of your particular poison all the more sweeter. The getting up at a ridiculous hour is over for a couple of days, sitting at your desk for 8 hours is no more until Monday, you can do what you want when you want. I can just taste that first cold one now, oh how I wish it was my time to clock off.

When in a big company it can be a bit different. There are 100’s if not 1000’s of employees in the building even on your floor. There is no way that you will be able to get to know everyone. It is guaranteed though that the people you know will know others. Yes you will be introduced unless as previously stated the person you work with is socially inept, but they will have their things that they can talk about, their adventures that they relate to and you can feel left out. Now please don’t go feeling sorry for me as this is yet to happen to me, I am not saying it won’t, but so far so good. Then there is the very harsh situation where the team you work with is the team that no one socialises with?!? Now this is a very hard situation to be in. On the one hand they are the people that you will be working closely with for 40 hours of the week, the people that will help you out of you get stuck, the people that may make you a cup of tea if they are making one. On the other hand, you just want some friends. I know I have been absolutely superb at giving advice so far on this blog but I’m afraid in this one you are on your own. Each situation is different and I don’t want to put my head on the chopping block and say one thing only for it to be wrong in your situation. I am sorry kids but I can’t and won’t do it.

There is also the politics of the drinking. Someone earns more than you, they buy you a round, it is a big round, do you have to return the compliment? Now if you don’t you look cheap and a taker, if you do, you and your family may not be able to eat for the next month. This again is a toughy. For this I would say weigh up the situation. If they earn a hell of a lot more than you and they know it then don’t worry about it. For example you are their admin person, or their secretary, then I say take take take. They won’t be expecting to be bought back a drink by you, but do it every-so-often but just for them. It will go down well and the bank balance will stay in the green. Another variant is the person with the company credit card. Can you try and wrangle it so that you can get your drinks on the company. Again you don’t want to look like the cheap prick that only comes out when the company card is out or there is little chance of having to dig into their pockets (everyone knows at least one person like this), but on the other hand, that person isn’t actually paying for the drinks or will get the money back so why should you have to pay.

Finally there is the ‘I can only stay for one.’ You know you have plans on. You don’t have time to go home and change or they may be close to where you work so you might as well stay out. If someone buys you a drink it is a very poor show to then leave without buying them one back. Aaaaaaaaah this is a dilemma. The wife/husband will not be impressed if you turn up 30 mins late due to you feeling it is your duty for just one more. To avoid this scenario offer to buy the first one. Explain your situation, you will be understood. If you are lucky you will hear those fine words ‘don’t worry mate, I’ll get this one it’s all good’ or something along those lines. If this is heard then you know you are on easy street and you have scored a great win.

This is the darker side of the politics involved in the work drinks, but don’t let this put you off, they are great. People are in high spirits, the working week is over and you don’t have to get out of bed tomorrow so see you all down the boozer!!! That is the thought for today, tune in tomorrow for something else.