[justboxing]

This.

> Being personable: "Can I have a beer with this guy?" is the worse in my opinion.

Social Drinking is a very western activity. In the East (India, Pakistan, China, etc...) a large majority of people are what are called "teetotalers" - never drink alcohol. Yet they socialize as much, if not more.

[ramchip]

Japan and Korea have very strong social drinking cultures, so I don’t think it’s really a question of East vs West.

[fma]

Drinking and eating is a very social part of life in China...

[yeukhon]

While I agree with you, in other industries such as hedge funds, "social drinking" is a regular thing.