The Mad Men era is dead. Long live the Mad Men era.
But is it really dead? Many commentators observed that the television program Mad Men celebrated a bygone era, where the women had big hair and few opportunities. They also noted the prevalence of alcohol and cigarettes on the show.
The program depicted the 1960s business world as an era of heavy smoking and business deals conducted over martini lunches and alcohol-filled dinners. Although Mad Men was a fictional television program, there were parallels between the show and real-life smoking and drinking behaviors of the 1960s. Other characters in the program experiment with other substances, such as the hallucinogen LSD and marijuana.
Although smoking and drinking seem less in-your-face than before, both still exist. According to the Population Reference Bureau, certain groups of people, such as white Americans with fewer years of education, still smoke more than others. These statistics refute the idea that no one smokes anymore.
And alcohol and work? There’s still a connection. Some companies encourage the connection by sponsoring happy hours or other alcohol-related events at their workplaces. Others stock their office refrigerators with beer and other beverages. Still other companies encourage employees to wine and dine prospective clients in order to win their business.
One wonders if such practices can help or hinder careers. Alcohol lowers inhibitions. People who can usually keep negative opinions to themselves while they’re sober may have a harder time doing so when they’re drunk. These drunken admissions can hurt a person’s career, and they’re just not professional.
Supervisors might worry that if their employees can’t handle their drinking, they won’t be able to handle their career responsibilities. A brief drunken incident could have far-reaching repercussions on a person’s career.
This is aside from the fact that alcohol can cause people to hurt themselves or hurt others, which could create personnel, medical, and even legal problems for employees, their coworkers, and their workplaces.
Drinking can create consequences. Responsible workplaces handle drinking and alcohol responsibly.
