Religion and Ethics Forum

General Category => Politics & Current Affairs => Topic started by: Nearly Sane on September 02, 2016, 03:45:11 PM

Title: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Nearly Sane on September 02, 2016, 03:45:11 PM
Apart from the Irony of this being followed by drinks, and the whole idea that men don't want to see/look after kids, it wankmonger of the highest order. It isn't a fucking problem JC!!?

Not that that is any benefit to Owen Smith who likes talking about being served by ladies and wants the FM of Scotland's gob stopped.


http://www.itv.com/news/2016-09-02/jeremy-corbyn-after-work-drinks-discriminate-against-mothers/
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Gordon on September 02, 2016, 04:01:43 PM
Aside from the irony of this nugget within the article 'Following the event, held at Unison's offices, a drinks party was held.' his stance reeks of simplistic generalisations that were no doubt intended as soundbytes that might impress the gullible.

On this showing he is an arse: possibly a thoughtful and well-intentioned one at times, but an arse nonetheless.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: L.A. on September 02, 2016, 04:06:05 PM
Aside from the irony of this nugget within the article 'Following the event, held at Unison's offices, a drinks party was held.' his stance reeks of simplistic generalisations that were no doubt intended as soundbytes that might impress the gullible.

On this showing he is an arse: possibly a thoughtful and well-intentioned one at times, but an arse nonetheless.

Being an 'arse' comes quite naturally to Jeremy.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Aruntraveller on September 02, 2016, 04:07:44 PM
I have received my invitation to vote by e-mail, because I'm a member of an affiliated union I presume (I haven't been a member of the party for many a long year now) although I'm not sure I should have a vote, anyhoo that's all kind of irrelevant because neither of them are convincing me to vote for them.

As to drinks after work - oh I can't even be bothered to construct a coherent sentence to express my complete amazement that anyone thinks this is a burning issue.

Somebody please help. May to the right, Corbyn to the left. I am completely bewildered.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: jeremyp on September 03, 2016, 11:00:43 AM
Apart from the Irony of this being followed by drinks, and the whole idea that men don't want to see/look after kids, it wankmonger of the highest order. It isn't a fucking problem JC!!?

Also, the idea that I, a person with no children, should give up an activity I quite enjoy just because other people choose to be responsible is wankmonger too.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: floo on September 03, 2016, 11:26:01 AM
I wonder how many people who go for a drink or three after work, then drive home?
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Bubbles on September 03, 2016, 06:00:23 PM
Mothers have their coffee mornings while hubby goes to work  ;)

I really enjoyed the social side I had when the kiddies were small.

When you work full time it's not the same.

Lots of people don't want to have after work drinks with people they work with because they have seen them for so many hours a day.

I actually think those mums coffee mornings with small kids in tow was one of the most enjoyable parts of my life, one men are largely excluded from.

It's nice to have time to meet others in a way you don't as a couple.

If I was a bloke, I'd be quite jealous, never mind the after work drinks  ;D
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: ad_orientem on September 03, 2016, 06:14:33 PM
I wonder how many people who go for a drink or three after work, then drive home?

Who cares as long as they're not over the legal limit? It's nobody's business then.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: BeRational on September 04, 2016, 02:05:28 AM
Who cares as long as they're not over the legal limit? It's nobody's business then.

I would agree but I want the legal limit to be zero.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Brownie on September 04, 2016, 03:57:27 AM
Why do people think it is only men who go for drinks after work?  It is very common for women to do it, especially on a Friday night.  Going to the pub after work starts the weekend off well for many.  Nothing wrong with it at all as long as everyone knows their limit so that accidents don't happen - they all have to travel home eventually, often on a train, and it's not much fun if someone is sick or if they fall asleep and miss their stop.

Jeremy said: "...benefits men who don't feel the need to be at home looking after their children and it discriminates against women who will want to, obviously, look after the children that they have got."

Appallingly ungrammatical and sexist in the extreme.  Shame on you Corbyn, you're a socialist.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: floo on September 04, 2016, 08:16:08 AM
Who cares as long as they're not over the legal limit? It's nobody's business then.

People should NOT drink and drive. I am of the opinion even a small amount of alcohol makes you less on the ball when driving.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: ad_orientem on September 04, 2016, 08:40:58 AM
People should NOT drink and drive. I am of the opinion even a small amount of alcohol makes you less on the ball when driving.

It doesn't surprise me you think that. I'm glad you're not the one making these rules up because you'd a right little Hitler. Unless you're a complete lightweight then one or two drinks is of no consequence.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: floo on September 04, 2016, 08:57:22 AM
It doesn't surprise me you think that. I'm glad you're not the one making these rules up because you'd a right little Hitler. Unless you're a complete lightweight then one or two drinks is of no consequence.

Better safe than sorry where alcohol is concerned, many people are probably over the limit and don't realise it!
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Bubbles on September 04, 2016, 09:33:14 AM
Why do people think it is only men who go for drinks after work?  It is very common for women to do it, especially on a Friday night.  Going to the pub after work starts the weekend off well for many.  Nothing wrong with it at all as long as everyone knows their limit so that accidents don't happen - they all have to travel home eventually, often on a train, and it's not much fun if someone is sick or if they fall asleep and miss their stop.

Jeremy said: "...benefits men who don't feel the need to be at home looking after their children and it discriminates against women who will want to, obviously, look after the children that they have got."

Appallingly ungrammatical and sexist in the extreme.  Shame on you Corbyn, you're a socialist.

Women, if they are married and have children generally are expected to go home and put tea on the table for their families.

Who really has time to go drinking with work colleagues after work?

Sometimes ( but rarely)  at work we go out later for a team building meet up. Which can range from learning how to make cocktails to ten pin bowling or a meal.

Even then it's hard to get everyone to go.

People have commitments after work and women especially, with their families.

As for drinking you ask your other half to give you a lift home, both me and my husband give each other lifts in such circumstances as they never seem to coincide.

But drinks regularly after work isn't going to happen.

If you are young and single it might, because you don't have people expecting you home in the same way.

If you have a family, they expect you to be around.

Children have after school activities as well as wanting tea and sexist or not, mum is often looked to, for lifts and feeding.

I think Jeremy Corbyn is right, most women with children have to collect them from childminders for example.

Or from their mum, which is just restricting the freedom of another woman if you think about it.

Women who have their mums look after their children are only free, because they restrict another woman's freedom.

Childcare is expensive and it's usually the woman who has to sort it out.





Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Brownie on September 04, 2016, 10:54:53 AM
Better safe than sorry where alcohol is concerned, many people are probably over the limit and don't realise it!

I agree with you there, especially about drinking and driving.  Better safe than sorry.  One drink is enough for most if they are going to drive and, as you said, some are affected even after one (I think you said that, if not in those words).  However I doubt people would be driving home from work after a few drinks.  It's usually public transport, especially in big cities.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: floo on September 04, 2016, 11:09:19 AM
I agree with you there, especially about drinking and driving.  Better safe than sorry.  One drink is enough for most if they are going to drive and, as you said, some are affected even after one (I think you said that, if not in those words).  However I doubt people would be driving home from work after a few drinks.  It's usually public transport, especially in big cities.

I think many people drive home inebriated, especially in rural areas. The police around here have crackdowns from time to time, stopping cars and breathalysing drivers. Quite a number were found to be over the limit, some way over.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Brownie on September 04, 2016, 11:15:37 AM
They are bonkers.  Even if they don't have an accident they will lose points on their licence.  The police are known to be quite hot on that sort of thing in rural areas.  If anyone wants a drink after work why don't they make arrangements to get home a different way.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Nearly Sane on September 04, 2016, 11:26:22 AM
I think many people drive home inebriated, especially in rural areas. The police around here have crackdowns from time to time, stopping cars and breathalysing drivers. Quite a number were found to be over the limit, some way over.


Socially the whole perception of drink driving has changed over the years. When I was first learning to drive, it was almost seen as acceptable. Drink ups after work, are now in my experience, far fewer, lighter in tone, and there will be people who perhaps have a court oe of drinks at the start of the evening and then switch to soft drinks, or don't have any alcohol. I think it would be sensible to back this up with a reduction in limit for England and Wales, as happened in Scotland some time ago.


That said, I think the whole idea of after work drinks being discriminatory is nonsense.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Brownie on September 04, 2016, 01:01:27 PM
Rose:  Women, if they are married and have children generally are expected to go home and put tea on the table for their families.


Not in this day and age.

As for drinking you ask your other half to give you a lift home, both me and my husband give each other lifts in such circumstances as they never seem to coincide.

My husband would always have given me a lift anywhere if he was about; he rarely went for a drink after work, he's no drinker, but I was perfectly capable of using public transport. I never got blind drunk after work as I know my limits (I'm a lightweight).  It was the same for most other colleagues, male and female.

I've known younger people, eg in their twenties, who seemed to enjoy heavy boozing on a regular basis, but that's something most outgrow.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: jeremyp on September 04, 2016, 07:11:12 PM
I wonder how many people who go for a drink or three after work, then drive home?
That's one of the advantages of doing what I do: commute by train.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Nearly Sane on September 04, 2016, 07:13:55 PM
That's one of the advantages of doing what I do: commute by train.
or walk to pub and back, or walk back to hotel
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: splashscuba on September 04, 2016, 07:58:35 PM
I drink during work. It makes for a better experience.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: The Accountant, OBE, KC on September 05, 2016, 09:40:01 AM
Apart from the Irony of this being followed by drinks, and the whole idea that men don't want to see/look after kids, it wankmonger of the highest order. It isn't a fucking problem JC!!?

Not that that is any benefit to Owen Smith who likes talking about being served by ladies and wants the FM of Scotland's gob stopped.


http://www.itv.com/news/2016-09-02/jeremy-corbyn-after-work-drinks-discriminate-against-mothers/
I don't know what it is like now as I no longer work in the City. From your link - JC highlighted a concern among many women's groups and the head of the CBI that a male-led after-work networking culture in some workplaces can be detrimental to the career progression of female co-workers who can feel excluded, especially those women with caring responsibilities.

My experience in investment banking is that there was a male-led after-work networking culture that revolved around drinking. But if you were a woman and you showed up for these after-work drinks and either drank alcohol or at least acted less inhibited after work as though you were slightly high, it got you a lot more friends in management and opened a lot more doors.

That life abruptly ended for me when I went back to my job at JP Morgan after my eldest daughter was 5 months old and could only rarely stay and work late or rarely stay for after-work drinks and definitely could not drink. I found not being able to work late more problematic than not being able to stay for after-work drinks.

If I did stay for after-work drinks I couldn't relax because I felt guilty that I had been away from my child all day and wasn't heading home to pick her up and see to her needs when she was so dependent on me - physically and emotionally. I could have had a nanny of some sort to look after her in the evening I suppose but that was expensive and plus I wanted to influence her personality to be fearless and I was worried that a nanny would have been too over-protective because she was looking after someone else's child.

It wasn't as fun staying for after-work drinks if you knew you had to get home and deal with keeping a baby in a routine of some sort that would help them sleep and feel safe, and also deal with groceries, laundry, your dinner, sorting out food and clothes to pack for her the next day and knowing you would have to get up a few times in the night because your daughter had eczema and would scratch and cry or have breathing problems and temperature spikes if she got a cold because of asthma. My husband did not seem to feel the same sense of responsibility for her emotional resilience, development nor feel guilt - he would work late, sometimes meet clients after work. 

So I get where the women's groups and head of CBI are coming from about it being an issue in SOME workplaces, but not sure what can be done about it. You have kids - your life changes - and from talking to other women we bonded over our sense of responsibility about how to bring up resilient daughters that few husbands shared. Maybe it is different now. Also maybe my experience would have been different if I had had sons - i don't know.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Bubbles on September 05, 2016, 09:54:18 AM
I don't see how it can change, if that network still exists, women still bear the brunt of the responsibilities for the children.

Women still feel guilty if they don't see their child because they were in bed by the time they got home.

Being a mother seems to mean always being torn when it comes to work.

Not many men are prepared to go home from work if their child is ill, it's usually the mum that gets the call from school.

Of course there will always be some men, but generally it's women that have to cope with that.
I have sons and it isn't any different really.

Even childminders won't take a child that is poorly, so you are stuck.
 :)
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: jeremyp on September 05, 2016, 10:03:13 AM

Not many men are prepared to go home from work if their child is ill,

That's not the case where I work. Can you substantiate your claim?

Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Brownie on September 05, 2016, 10:45:16 AM
Rose:  Women still feel guilty if they don't see their child because they were in bed by the time they got home.

I remember seeing Diane Abbott MP interviewed on TV and she said that the woman Speaker in the Commons was the only one who would not let her go off early to put her son to bed.  Yes, she did feel guilty too.  It's not easy.

If men don't show the same commitment - in some ways - to house and childcare, they need a wake up call.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: splashscuba on September 05, 2016, 12:54:57 PM
Rose:  Women still feel guilty if they don't see their child because they were in bed by the time they got home.

I remember seeing Diane Abbott MP interviewed on TV and she said that the woman Speaker in the Commons was the only one who would not let her go off early to put her son to bed.  Yes, she did feel guilty too.  It's not easy.

If men don't show the same commitment - in some ways - to house and childcare, they need a wake up call.
What makes you think men don't show the same commitment ?
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Nearly Sane on September 05, 2016, 12:58:54 PM
What makes you think men don't show the same commitment ?
Brownie doesn't state they don't but rather if they don't they need a wake up call.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: splashscuba on September 05, 2016, 01:20:21 PM
Brownie doesn't state they don't but rather if they don't they need a wake up call.
I'd say the same about both men and women.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Bubbles on September 05, 2016, 01:33:16 PM
That's not the case where I work. Can you substantiate your claim?

Can you?

It's difficult to substantiate claims about people's real lives.

But all I can do is show that women tend to feel guilty about taking time off.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2034735/Working-mothers-regularly-send-sick-children-school-look-them.html

And point out you don't see articles very often on men taking time off on the same scale.

This one is a corker

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/30/sometimes-i-have-to-leave-early-to-pick-up-my-kids-deal-with-it

A woman being told it is better to tell the boss you have to tend toward your dog instead! And not admit it's their kids.

Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: Nearly Sane on September 05, 2016, 01:34:33 PM
I'd say the same about both men and women.
and I am sure Brownie would too, but she was replying to people stating men didn't really show the same commitment. I think you need to pick them up on it, not Brownie
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: jeremyp on September 05, 2016, 04:00:40 PM
Can you?
All I'm claiming is that in my office there the men, as a rule, take their fair share of looking after their sick offspring. I'm not trying to make generalisations about the wider world.
Title: Re: The evil of after work drinks
Post by: The Accountant, OBE, KC on September 05, 2016, 06:17:01 PM
I don't think it is possible to generalise - different jobs or careers have different demands.

My experience is that networking and building relationships with colleagues and clients is crucial to advancement - unless you are lucky enough to be brilliant and indispensable at your job, in which case you can demand a lot more leeway.

Clients and managers pick people for projects or tasks whom they like to work with - people with whom they have a good working and personal relationship - they confide in you and that builds trust, which makes for a stronger team or client relationship. It's difficult to do if you keep saying you are regularly unavailable for whatever reason - they will find someone else.

If you can show you either bring in business that increased profits or contributed in a measurable way to increased profits, you can ask for promotions and some of those additional profits will come to you in the form of a bonus or pay rises. If people can do this and also go home earlier than colleagues to look after children or elderly parents - they deserve the promotion / pay rise / bonus IMO.