Why I Choose Not To Be Drunk Around Co-Workers

I like to enjoy a good drink sometimes. A little bit of alcohol helps me to socialize, and it helps me to engage in great laughs with the company around me. However, there are a group of people in my life where I am hesitant to drink alcohol around, and that would be my co-workers. Before I dive into why it is dangerous to drink a large amount of alcohol around co-workers, allow me to share a little story of a night out with former co-workers that went sour. This night out serves as the basis of my feelings toward drinking around co-workers.

I was fresh out of university, and I accepted a position working at an HR firm in downtown Toronto. My co-workers at the time were around the same age as myself, and on some Fridays, we would all go out for drinks after work. On one such occasion, we all went bowling and we were all downing a copious amount of beers and spirits. After the bowling, we all went to dinner and we were drinking even more. My co-workers were ordering shots, and suddenly, I was completely plastered. Because I just came out of university, I still had that university mindset that I needed to out-drink everyone else in order to assert dominance. Not to mention, I had a slight crush on one co-worker, and I cannot remember what I said to her (maybe I was hitting on her a little too aggressively), but after that night, she refused to talk to me about anything for the rest of the time I worked for the firm. I was in a bad way. After I left dinner, I was stumbling my way to the train station, puked in the train bathroom, and somehow found myself home. That night was a truly embarrassing night for me.

That night was the turning point for me in terms of changing my drinking habits for the better. I promised myself that I would not get that drunk around people that were not my family (and even if I did, I would make sure that my parents or other trusted family are around to take care of me). That night helped me in growing up and becoming more mature. Nowadays, I am much more careful in what I drink, and I would always have some water around me to consume. I would also choose to drive to events instead of taking public transit so I can use the excuse that I am driving whenever someone offers me a drink.

Now, let us get back to the question at hand. Why is it dangerous for me to be drunk around co-workers? It is important to understand that my co-workers are my professional colleagues. The first time I meet them is in a professional setting, and the main thing I would talk to my co-workers about would be things related to work. When my co-workers and I are in a setting where the alcohol is free flowing, the fact that my co-workers are my professional colleagues does not change. With every drink, the chance that I would come on too strong to another co-worker, or that I would throw up because I cannot handle my liquor, increases. The reason why it is so dangerous for me to be drunk around co-workers is that I have this fear that I may embarrass myself in front of my co-workers in some way, and it would be something that I would have to live with in the coming workdays. I do not want the relationship and the dynamic between my co-workers and me to change in a negative way, and I do not want to experience any repercussions from my job position because of my drinking behaviour. After what happened on the bowling night many years ago, I will never want to go through a shame like that again.

I thoroughly enjoy spending my time with co-workers outside of work. However, it is my personal choice not to drink alcohol, or to drink responsibly, because of the humiliating things that could happen while drunk, as well as to not deal with the humiliating fallout when I go back into work.