Frankly, as an America who also likes to drink, I find it tiring, too. Because it's not about the drinking. It's about about dedicating your whole life to the corporate ideal. Screw that. That's not why I got out of working for The Man. Why are we starting all these startups that don't respect our work life balance? How are we going to expect any employer to respect us if we don't respect ourselves?
And WeWork in particular is flipping expensive. Most of what they offer can be had by buying $5 lattes every hour at your local coffee shop. I'm a member at a more bare-bones competitor to WeWork[0] that, if you price it out, is cheaper than going to coffee shops. And it's also quiet, there's a printer, and the wifi works all the time. And you're still getting coffee out of the deal.
For WeWork's prices, I want to start having some private locker space or something, so I can maybe leave a laptop, lock up my papers, etc., not have to hump it around on the metro all day. If you want that level at WeWork, you have to pay such an exorbitant fee that you might as well just get three of your closest friends together to rent your own office.
At least then I wouldn't have to deal with a bunch of overgrown children having nerf battles.
[0] http://www.cove.is, though I'm pretty sure they're only available in the DC Metro area.
EDIT: I just checked, and they've recently dropped their prices. WeWork's entry level used to be in the $100/mo range. Cove is still cheaper, and the private storage levels are still very expensive.
I like beer, but it's exhausting because the assumption is your socializing now takes place at work. I imagine it's pure hell for anyone who struggles with alcohol addiction.
As a compulsive eater, I HATE it when offices have free snacks. It's mentally taxing to know there's free snacks only meters away all day long. When I switched from a place with free chips and candy to a place with free apples and pears, I lost a decent amount of weight.
But at the same time, you can't expect places to not have free snacks out just because you can't deal with them. And for the record, I actually hate having snacks around too but that's something that I feel like I need to deal with myself.
It must be really difficult to be an alcoholic in a workplace environment where people drink regularly. But being an alcoholic in general must be really difficult because of the emphasis that our society puts on social drinking.
Very true - I just find it to be a great challenge. I certainly wouldn't tell my coworkers they shouldn't have access to snacks because of my own issues, the same way I enjoyed the free beer (good beer too!) at my previous job. The difference is I don't have any trouble putting beer out of my mind until Friday afternoon, whereas food is ever in my thoughts when it is presented.
This is hardly specific to the USA work culture. From what I understand European offices make the US look like a bunch of teetotalers. And the drunken Japanese businessman singing karaoke isn't a cliche for no reason.
In the City (London) - Coffee and Alcohol really do make the whole thing go round.
Get hepped up on Caffeine all day, retox on the booze post work.
I can also remember the liquid lunches of the seventies and eighties (basically beer or wine for lunch, maybe some food).
Oh and nicotine. Huge numbers of smokers!
That's interesting, because I have the opposite reaction: I'm really tired of USA's general puritanical anti-alcohol culture. It's tiresome and moralistic.
I'd love to have a glass of beer with lunch and not have an arbitrary taboo about alcohol at work. I'd love not to worry about drinking in public. It's treated like an ugly bodily function! I'd love not to be hassled for ID everywhere I can drink. I'd love (or, more accurately, would have loved) a more reasonable drinking age.
But no, US culture makes casually drinking alcohol—something that should be entirely reasonable—awkward and difficult. In practice, all it means is that I can't responsibly enjoy a nice glass of wine at the park and college students still end up binging on cheap beer and liquor.
That's not anti-alcohol culture, that's simply authoritarian legislation. Alcohol licensing authorities, operating on 200+ year old laws enacted by uptight religionists, have taken it upon themselves to cause as many possible hurdles to business owners as possible, simply because they can.
It's not an "anti-alcohol culture". It's simply power-hungry officials. The US drinks like there's no tomorrow.
Not him but I also choose not to drink, so I'm in the same boat.
I'm vocal with my coworkers that I don't drink and that's why I do not attend many of the social outings. We have a lot of outings that don't center around or involve alcohol (ie. Gokarting) and I attend those. I make it a point that I'd rather they go have fun at a bar and I'll "sit this one out" rather than turning all events into "sober-friendly" events.
E:
Since it might be brought up... I politely decline offers to attend the bar gatherings and "just don't drink". I dislike being around drunk people - I find them annoying and having to repeat myself 20 times in conversation to be frustrating. Instead of ruining their fun experience with my irritated and increasingly unfriendly attitude - I stay at home and let them enjoy their time.
Don't worry, you aren't the only one. I long to be transported to a time or place where humans weren't so accepting... no, seeking such blatant disrespect to their personal dignity and craft.
It seems to be one facet of a theme of infantilization and youth glorification in work culture and society at large. I am not sure whether it has any relationship with the rise of the "social" plague in industry, and the widespread infiltration of VC onto college campuses (and now elementary school playgrounds), where the youth are increasingly primed for dependency through the advertising and systematic denial of experiences.
Offices for adults these days are becoming more like playgrounds, and playgrounds for kids are becoming more like jails. I can't understand all the psychodynamics at play, but something is clearly broken with the way we treat our youth and our narrowly defined notions of "fun".
Work culture is not about the worker or the work anymore, it is about creating an interdependent unit of labor. But if neither the quality of work nor the quality of life for the worker is emphasized, I am not sure what the purpose is besides to maintain social order.
> playgrounds for kids are becoming more like jails
The solution to this problem is to revolt. Stop taking your kids to the playground. Get them helmets and a kickbike and go to the local skateboard park. Go out hiking with them, even if it's just 300 yards in a park. Run on the beach. Let them eat the sand. Give them proper rain clothing and boots so they can jump in puddles for hours on end. Teach them that there is no bad weather, just bad clothing. Show them how a socket wrench works. Let them "help" whenever you're doing something, if it's cooking or cleaning or repairing stuff or whatever. And for gods sake don't buy them a tablet.
DISCLAIMER: said activities may require physical exercise and actual parenting.
I work in this youth glorified startup world. It's awfully critical to imply that those of us who enjoy the atmosphere are "seeking blatant disregard to their personal dignity and craft."
There's not as much drinking done as you would think and really it's either an after work hours thing or someone is coming in checking the place out and has a beer. It's really not a big deal. It's actually just more convenient because alcohol can loosen you up and means you don't have to go across the street to an expensive bar.
I believe you're taking an overly hard-lined approach to this. I work very hard, and so do many others. There's some who just dick around, but that's going to be in any office. I would ask you though, what's more conducive to meeting new people around the office? A light-hearted 5:00 / 6:00 drink at the bar right outside the work area where there's already other people drinking OR organizing everyone to go to a bar across the street and hope people show up OR just going to the bar?
WeWork is a great place because of the community it builds and you might very well argue it does that on the back of its kegs with taps labeled WeWork. Is this really so bad? Think about your typical startup who's struggling to get along. Isn't it better that they have others to talk to especially others who are going through the exact thing they are?
I genuinely think you can't understand all the psychodynamics at play because you're stubbornly holding onto your perception of a workplace should be. Hey to each their own, but I see a lot of positives in WeWork's approach.
I'm not as vociferous as the person you're replying to, but I'm starting to think of the all-consuming social scene of modern startups as one of the reasons why diversity is still a major problem in the tech industry. I don't think socializing with coworkers all the time--either in the office or outside of it--is healthy. It reinforces monoculture. I think it's healthier to have everyone socializing outside of the circle of people they see every day already. If the only friends you have are the people at work, then to whom do you turn for personal recommendations when you need to add people to the company?
If employees want to hang out with each other, that's fine. I just don't think it's a good idea, in the long run, for companies to be pushing like this.
Slightly off-topic - but how is diversity (or lack of thereof) a major problem in the tech industry? Is there any proof that it's a problem? Are there companies that have truly diverse workforce that are more successful than ones without?
I'm trying to consider how your comment is not an indication that you have actively hidden from the last several years of press and are stubbornly trying to deny there is a problem. This has been known for a long time and it is endemic across companies. http://www.techrepublic.com/article/diversity-stats-10-tech-...
Again - why is that a problem? There is certainly a statement of fact (there are relatively few blacks or hispanics in SV). How is this a problem? Is the goal of these businesses to make good products or provide employment to all society strata?
Should I be equally bothered by lack of whites in the NBA or the NFL?
I have no perception of what a workplace should be. That is up to the individuals who actually do work together or alone. Apparently its some other people who have ideas of what a workplace should be because every workplace these days is the same generic adult playground (with free drinks and snacks and open collaboration!).
I would prefer if everyone just worked from home, or in a shared community workshop, or private studio, or coffee shop, or bar, or wherever they fucking want. WeWork is nothing more but a modern spin on Office Space culture. If people like that, I am happy it is another option available to those who enjoy working in that kind of space. Just make sure you don't think you have stumbled upon the holy grail of work spaces, and push it on everyone who is looking for work.
And WeWork in particular is flipping expensive. Most of what they offer can be had by buying $5 lattes every hour at your local coffee shop. I'm a member at a more bare-bones competitor to WeWork[0] that, if you price it out, is cheaper than going to coffee shops. And it's also quiet, there's a printer, and the wifi works all the time. And you're still getting coffee out of the deal.
For WeWork's prices, I want to start having some private locker space or something, so I can maybe leave a laptop, lock up my papers, etc., not have to hump it around on the metro all day. If you want that level at WeWork, you have to pay such an exorbitant fee that you might as well just get three of your closest friends together to rent your own office.
At least then I wouldn't have to deal with a bunch of overgrown children having nerf battles.
[0] http://www.cove.is, though I'm pretty sure they're only available in the DC Metro area.
EDIT: I just checked, and they've recently dropped their prices. WeWork's entry level used to be in the $100/mo range. Cove is still cheaper, and the private storage levels are still very expensive.