My company sells little bottles of red and white wine and a selection of beers in the cafeteria. We always have a glass of wine when we go out to lunch, special occasion or not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some workplaces can fire you for this

We have fired two people for doing this.

I assume you had a specific rule about this and those employees broke the rule right?

You betcha. There was no argument.

I'm a 30-something female working in upper management for a fairly large federal contractor in Virginia, and would never drink at lunch (though I've been to plenty happy hours.)

Conversely, my husband works for a large consulting firm (also upper management) in downtown DC and goes to lunch frequently with clients, colleagues and friends (mainly guys from nearby law firms) and they always have drinks (one or two with clients, probably more with friends.) It's no big deal.

I've always wondered if it was my gender, industry, or location (not so easy to walk to lunch and back) that made day-drinking a no-no for our office.

Was a receptionist at a big company and decided to have a “fancy” lunch one day. Drank a glass of wine with my meal. Saw a table of executives from my company in the same restaurant that day - they were also drinking. They said hello (and paid for my lunch!). I think if it’s something you don’t do every day, it’s fine. In Europe, it’s the norm.

NYC and Boston police until recently were allowed to have 2 beers at lunch while on duty.

Anonymous wrote:I would! I used to work for a British company and they drank morning, noon and night. I also used to work for the IMF and they sold wine in the cafeteria.

A friend just got back from two weeks in her company's London office and said she could not believe how much drinking there was (and she's a drinker here!)

Totally fine. I'll likely do it tomorrow in fact (with a colleague, not alone).

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some workplaces can fire you for this

We have fired two people for doing this.

I assume you had a specific rule about this and those employees broke the rule right?

Anonymous wrote:Some workplaces can fire you for this

We have fired two people for doing this.

Totally acceptable in Marketing! But we drink a lot, so.

I would! I used to work for a British company and they drank morning, noon and night. I also used to work for the IMF and they sold wine in the cafeteria.

Our office used to have a bar cart catered around every evening. Many have full bars in their offices. Wine at lunch is NBD in some fields.

worked at local university. we use to have cocktails at lunch once a week, especially when the weather was nice. even the VP would join us and have a few.

Some workplaces can fire you for this

Anonymous wrote:I’m a lawyer in DC and I don’t think anyone would judge. So long as your work doesn’t suffer. Drinking is still big at most law firms.

+1 When I was at a firm having a drink at lunch was common. I recall a summer associate lunch where we went through severe pitchers of margaritas. Law firms still have a huge drinking culture.

I’m in house now and drinking is prohibited during work hours. I’m fine with that - it makes sense for the business we work in.