TodayAlcohol still trouble in the workplace
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Article RatingWorkplace alcohol use is being targeted.
Of course, it always has been... in one way or another.
In past years, it was referred to as “the three-martini lunch, which execs billed to their expense accounts. And why not? These two-hour, three-drink lunches were deal-makers.
And what did President Gerald Ford have to say about them back then: “The tree-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?”
The three-martini lunch, however, became controversial because it was a white-collar class perk.
Some say President Jimmy Carter had a lot to do with its demise after limitations were put on expense account entertaining.
For whatever reason, the three-martini lunch wasn’t the greatest the idea to ever come down the pike since companies certainly weren’t getting their executives at their sharpest for the rest of the day. And it undoubtedly abetted alcoholism.
So, while we’ve pretty much said bye-bye to much of the drinking of alcoholic beverages mid-day on the company, alcoholism in the workplace remains a concern. And the findings of a study by the University of Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions shows more than 7 percent of American workers still drink, mostly at lunch.
The study says young, single men mostly are tied to workplace-related drinking and even more — 9 percent — have nursed a hangover while at work.
This was far from a small survey. A total of 2,805 employed adults were sampled from January 2002 to June 2003 with the results now appearing in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol.
The findings really aren’t a surprise.
It’s well known that drinking alcohol beverages can slow down the thinking process and alter decision-making ability. It can cause people to have accidents, sustain injuries and create snafus in which the business itself actually suffers.
Excessive drinking is a continuing problem because it so often leads to alcoholism and destroys lives.
A tendency when one sees another study about over use or abuse of alcohol is to shuffle it aside as not containing anything the reader doesn’t already know.
That’s a mistake because alcoholic beverages are legal for anyone 21 years of age and up.
The study, however points to young, single men as daytime users. This probably means they started on this path before they could buy alcohol legally.
That makes it as important as ever for everyone to set a moderation course when it comes to drinking these beverages. Young people need proper role models — not elders who preach, “Do as I say, not as I do.”
And on the work scene, they need managers who decline alcohol for anything work-related as a matter of clear-headed principle — not those who have one at lunch to get an early start on the 5 o’clock cocktail hour.
