Beer Friday

I used to work at a startup company that was truly the embodiment of "Work hard, play hard". The hours were long, off-hours work was the norm, and the pace was intense. For the most part, I considered it a good experience. The pace and the expectations forced me to focus on prioritizing needs and making good decisions quickly. However, there was one amazing perk that helped make it worthwhile.

Beer Friday.

It didn't happen every Friday. In fact, one of the underlying reasons to my departure might very well have been the decline of Beer Friday. But at least once a month, plus anytime there was a company meeting, plus whenever we did a major release, plus the night before a major release, there was Beer Friday. The owners would bring in several brands of beer- swill for those who insisted on calling Miller Light "beer", an import- usually Heineken- for those who considered themselves having more discerning taste, an Sun King brand for those of us who insist on a microbrew.  If we had a meeting, we'd all pull our chairs together and have our meeting, drinking our beer. If it was just a Beer Friday, we kept working. There wasn't an issue with people getting trashed on the job- we were all professionals and acted that way. It was just a nice little perk to end our day.

I have a lot of fond memories about that place, although I don't miss the pace. I do miss the idea of, at least for a little bit, breaking the "Manager/Employee" relationship and turning work into a more casual experience.

It's interesting how beer, even if it's swill, can bring about a casual tone to something. I don't mean frat-style beer pounding, but rather how just cracking open a couple of cold ones can turn anything into a more casual affair. Even if you're still working, still in a meeting, or whatever.

So, here's to beer, and here's to Beer Friday.