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A "two drink limit" fails to account for (1) how alcohol affects people differently since two drinks can make some people sloppy while others will hardly feel i

A "two drink limit" fails to account for (1) how alcohol affects people differently since two drinks can make some people sloppy while others will hardly feel it and (2) the fact that alcohol usually only lasts about an hour per drink and many social events last a few hours. A couple drinks helps get me out of my own head enough to relax with co-workers. After a couple hours, the two beers have worn off and I usually want another one or two to keep my sociability going. I'd much prefer a policy where everyone gets to decide in advance how many drink tickets they want and perhaps say "these tickets aren't good until X time." This would help everyone to regulate their own intake, and it treats employees like adults capable of managing their own bodies while still addressing the issue of people over-consuming by accident or in an unaccountable manner.

seth__ 8y ago
>I'd much prefer a policy where everyone gets to decide in advance how many drink tickets they want Then you would get people like me, asking for lots of tickets as you can just discard those when you are done but you would not be able to ask for extra ones. At that point, you could just remove the ticket system as it doesn't work anymore
- ryanianian 8y ago
  Sure but then if you over-indulge you're on record as someone who (1) requested way too many tickets and (2) wasn't capable of managing their own intake effectively or knowing their limits ahead of time. The goal is to help responsible adults remain responsible adults after a couple drinks when parts of your brain tell you to drink more than you know you should. The default of two drinks per night is a good starting point; my point is to let responsible adults decide for themselves ahead of time if more than two would be good for them.
  - leetcrew 8y ago
    honestly if you have a hard time sticking to two drinks at an event that could affect your livelihood, you probably just shouldn't drink. we don't need some rube goldberg system of drink metering. we need people to handle their own shit. if they actually behave badly you can always fire them.
RankingMember 8y ago
I would argue that creating a whole drink ticketing bureaucracy including a pre-scheduled drink ticket release procedure does the opposite of treating employees like adults. It sounds a lot like kids in a school lunch line. It drives me nuts when companies let a few bad actors ruin a loose policy rather than addressing the issue with the bad actors, but I know, legally, having a strict, spelled-out policy is safer (easier to defend against lawsuits) legally.
- reaperducer 8y ago
  It drives me nuts when companies let a few bad actors ruin a loose policy At a small or mid-sized company, ½% of bad actors can be one or two or three. At a company the size of Google, ½% of bad actors can be hundreds or thousands of human liabilities.
  - RankingMember 8y ago
    A valid point, though I'd argue that that same "power in numbers" of companies like Google means PR can swing just as hard in a positive direction as a result of a generous policy. I think it's a question of where to draw the line. I'm sure an argument could be made that they should get rid of the bikes on their campuses because a percentage of people will hurt themselves on them or hurt someone else and be a legal risk.
reaperducer 8y ago
A couple drinks helps get me out of my own head enough to relax with co-workers. After a couple hours, the two beers have worn off and I usually want another one or two to keep my sociability going. If you need alcohol to socialize, then you have a problem and should get help. That's seriously one of the signs of a problem. Ironically, I'll tell you to "Google it."
- ryanianian 8y ago
  There's a difference between socializing for a few hours with work people---many of whom may be new and/or have very different styles---and socializing with long-time friends and family. If you have a bit of a hard time socializing for a few hours with strangers and if a responsible amount of alcohol helps a bit, I'd say you're probably pretty okay :)

seth__ 8y ago

>I'd much prefer a policy where everyone gets to decide in advance how many drink tickets they want Then you would get people like me, asking for lots of tickets as you can just discard those when you are done but you would not be able to ask for extra ones. At that point, you could just remove the ticket system as it doesn't work anymore

ryanianian 8y ago
Sure but then if you over-indulge you're on record as someone who (1) requested way too many tickets and (2) wasn't capable of managing their own intake effectively or knowing their limits ahead of time. The goal is to help responsible adults remain responsible adults after a couple drinks when parts of your brain tell you to drink more than you know you should. The default of two drinks per night is a good starting point; my point is to let responsible adults decide for themselves ahead of time if more than two would be good for them.
- leetcrew 8y ago
  honestly if you have a hard time sticking to two drinks at an event that could affect your livelihood, you probably just shouldn't drink. we don't need some rube goldberg system of drink metering. we need people to handle their own shit. if they actually behave badly you can always fire them.

RankingMember 8y ago

I would argue that creating a whole drink ticketing bureaucracy including a pre-scheduled drink ticket release procedure does the opposite of treating employees like adults. It sounds a lot like kids in a school lunch line. It drives me nuts when companies let a few bad actors ruin a loose policy rather than addressing the issue with the bad actors, but I know, legally, having a strict, spelled-out policy is safer (easier to defend against lawsuits) legally.

reaperducer 8y ago
It drives me nuts when companies let a few bad actors ruin a loose policy At a small or mid-sized company, ½% of bad actors can be one or two or three. At a company the size of Google, ½% of bad actors can be hundreds or thousands of human liabilities.
- RankingMember 8y ago
  A valid point, though I'd argue that that same "power in numbers" of companies like Google means PR can swing just as hard in a positive direction as a result of a generous policy. I think it's a question of where to draw the line. I'm sure an argument could be made that they should get rid of the bikes on their campuses because a percentage of people will hurt themselves on them or hurt someone else and be a legal risk.

reaperducer 8y ago

A couple drinks helps get me out of my own head enough to relax with co-workers. After a couple hours, the two beers have worn off and I usually want another one or two to keep my sociability going. If you need alcohol to socialize, then you have a problem and should get help. That's seriously one of the signs of a problem. Ironically, I'll tell you to "Google it."

ryanianian 8y ago
There's a difference between socializing for a few hours with work people---many of whom may be new and/or have very different styles---and socializing with long-time friends and family. If you have a bit of a hard time socializing for a few hours with strangers and if a responsible amount of alcohol helps a bit, I'd say you're probably pretty okay :)