On Feeling Pressured to Drink at Work

Three-martini lunches may have gone the way of Don Draper, but businessmen still feel pressure to drink in order to bond with coworkers and land after-hours deals, according to the New York Times.

We say “businessmen” because the Times claims sober women aren’t affected by the same prejudices:

“Men are still expected to get together and go wild, but in some ways it’s frowned upon if the woman engages in it,” [therapist] Dr. Crepsac said, noting that few of his female patients have complained that sobriety hurt their careers. “There are plenty of things for which women are discriminated against in the workplace, but this isn’t one of them.”

Dr. Crepsac clearly isn’t hanging out with the same women I’m hanging out with — I know tons of working women who would agree with the nondrinking employee at a liquor-focused lifestyle magazine who said there’s “a perception almost that you’re impotent” if you don’t partake. It’s not just a guy thing.

So what do you do if you want to reap the benefits of your beer-guzzling peers sans alcohol? Asking contacts out to coffee after work feels weird, because most people have already had a few cups of the stuff by the time evening rolls around, and asking contacts out to dinner feels weird, too, because that’s usually so much more expensive and time-consuming. Frozen yogurt and tea just don’t have the same delicious ring to them as does “Happy Hour Special.” Any ideas?