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Undertoad · 06-30-2014, 07:38 AM

It's a slightly different attitude. I think we manage to drink as much, but there's a layer of uptight about it.

J, who has previously worked for a Brit company, told me that I would be taken out and gotten drunk. My host narrowly avoided it on the last day with some nearly-forgotten spousal duty.

It was like making sure that some plan was made to entertain the hotel-bound traveler, and that was just normal, but it had to involve drinking. Going to the cricket was not an option, although I had indicated an interest in it. It had to be the pub, even though that was 10 miles away, and I had to wake up at 5 the next morning to leave for home.

Here, if it was a big company, that would be frowned upon (unless the person involved was in sales and then I think the rules differ). There is a certain amount of walking on eggshells. The visitor may be Asian (half of eastern Asians can't really drink much at all, it's biological), or religious (religions we can't identify are a problem), or alcoholic (where the culture is we assume you can't drink at all, and just mentioning it could be a horrible pitfall).

And then there's lack of public transport, combined with the .08 DUI rules which will truly fuck someone over (I don't even know what they do with foreigners who fail to appear in court). We are in this weird middle place on that, where drinking out is becoming simply not possible, and drinking at home means you're automatically an alcoholic.

And, of course, this will differ regionally. Much of the silly valley has started having beer in the office, in case it's something top software talent wants. And like a foosball table, it's less expensive than 10% more salary. Failure to have a "fun" office in the Silicon Valley can be the death knell for your company. (Where "fun" means you can drink at work, not that you don't have bosses who don't know how to manage people, and stuff.)

06-30-2014, 07:38 AM	#109
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	It's a slightly different attitude. I think we manage to drink as much, but there's a layer of uptight about it. J, who has previously worked for a Brit company, told me that I would be taken out and gotten drunk. My host narrowly avoided it on the last day with some nearly-forgotten spousal duty. It was like making sure that some plan was made to entertain the hotel-bound traveler, and that was just normal, but it had to involve drinking. Going to the cricket was not an option, although I had indicated an interest in it. It had to be the pub, even though that was 10 miles away, and I had to wake up at 5 the next morning to leave for home. Here, if it was a big company, that would be frowned upon (unless the person involved was in sales and then I think the rules differ). There is a certain amount of walking on eggshells. The visitor may be Asian (half of eastern Asians can't really drink much at all, it's biological), or religious (religions we can't identify are a problem), or alcoholic (where the culture is we assume you can't drink at all, and just mentioning it could be a horrible pitfall). And then there's lack of public transport, combined with the .08 DUI rules which will truly fuck someone over (I don't even know what they do with foreigners who fail to appear in court). We are in this weird middle place on that, where drinking out is becoming simply not possible, and drinking at home means you're automatically an alcoholic. And, of course, this will differ regionally. Much of the silly valley has started having beer in the office, in case it's something top software talent wants. And like a foosball table, it's less expensive than 10% more salary. Failure to have a "fun" office in the Silicon Valley can be the death knell for your company. (Where "fun" means you can drink at work, not that you don't have bosses who don't know how to manage people, and stuff.)