The "Two Martini Lunch"

[Nash Buckingham]

At the risk of repeating something (I'm fairly new to this forum) I'm wondering how many connoisseurs of the finest things in life still enjoy a 2 or 3 martini lunch?

I just returned from my friday luncheon, and observed about 16 people at the bar I sat at. All of the males but myself and one other male were drinking Iced Tea, All but 2 of the female patrons were drinking martini's, cosmopolitans or some other Vodka drinks.

Have business luncheons excluded the best part?:eusa_doh:

Personally, I like to have a drink with lunch, then perhaps a drink and cigar after.

What are your preferences?

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

Could never do it. Alcohol before about 6 or 7 P.M. just gives me a head ache.

 

[scotrace]

It seems to be one of those things that has vanished from the world of daily business interaction. Perhaps it is due to increased fear or greater stigma associated with it. I doubt many companies permit it, and almost all of them have some kind of pee-in-a-cup-surprise policy. So you might get back to the office to find an order to report for drug screening immediately.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

and unless you are -walking- to lunch.....sorry..I would really rather not be hit by some business man who had two martinis for lunch and then tried to hurry back to work in his car.....

This is one of those examples of things that that are better -now-



D...spoilsport to the stars.

 

[scotrace]

Indeed. I was assuming a cab or train ride. No tradition that includes driving after a drink should survive.

 

[David Conwill]

Sheesh, three martinis. I'm so out of practice they'd have to carry me back to work. No Mad Men style lunches for this law student, I'm afraid.

-Dave

 

[Tomasso]

From Wikipedia

Some specifically ascribe the demise of the three-martini lunch to Jimmy Carter, who condemned the practice during the 1976 presidential campaign. Carter portrayed it as part of the unfairness in the nation's tax laws, claiming that the working class was subsidizing the "$50 martini lunch." This was because a "rich businessman" could write off this type of lunch as a business expense (a 1986 law limited the meal-expense deduction to 80 percent. In 1993, businesspeople were only able to receive a 50 percent write-off). His opponent, incumbent President Gerald R Ford, responded with: "The three-martini lunch is the epitome of American efficiency. Where else can you get an earful, a bellyful and a snootful at the same time?"

Comedian George Carlin once commented that while the three-martini lunch was being cracked down on, that it shouldn't affect the working man, and the "two-joint coffee break".

 

[Mojito]

I do sometimes have a cocktail with lunch during a work week - a couple of weeks ago, after struggling through the rain on a cold day to farewell a colleague, a sidecar was in order! There's also the payday fortnightly lunch with a few glasses of champagne.

It's usually on a Friday, when there's nothing heavy on in the afternoon - no meetings. I won't drink more than one glass if I'm tired, very stressed, or training for a race - it will affect me much more than at other times. I'll always eat something fairly substantial with it - although not too much, as food +alcohol +work desk = sleepy. I live in the middle of an area with plenty of good food and dining, and our default watering hole is across the street, so it's all an easy walk.

I worked in politics when boozy lunches on a Friday after a parliamentary sitting week were still in order. Staffers from all political parties and the press gallery would use the long lunch as a release - not a good idea. I understand it's been curbed a lot since, and that the heavy drinking culture in that closeted, claustrophobic atmosphere is not what it once was. I'd be skeptical of them bringing the press gallery into line, though!

 

[Maj.Nick Danger]

I wonder how many poor business decisions were made back in the day by inebriated businessmen? :eusa_doh:

 

[Rittmeister]

Given the current results of many business and political decisions, I wonder if sobriety has improved things very much.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

I wonder how many poor business decisions were made back in the day by inebriated businessmen? :eusa_doh:

And how many are still being made in Hollywood and the like by doped-up, coked-out executives?

 

[eldonkr]

And how many are still being made in Hollywood and the like by doped-up, coked-out executives?

When the author Dean Koontz was in a meeting about turning one of his books into a movie the guy in charge of turning it into a movie would get up from the table every fifteen minutes or so and return with white powder under his nose.

 

[jgilbert]

I can't do a two martini dinner let alone a lunch!

 

[Slim Portly]

I doubt many companies permit it, and almost all of them have some kind of pee-in-a-cup-surprise policy. So you might get back to the office to find an order to report for drug screening immediately.

Indeed. Where I work there is a zero tolerance policy for alcohol, and anyone who fails a surprise test had better be able to produce a bottle of cough syrup on the spot. It is just a coincidence that I happen to have a prescription for just such a thing. A touch of the sniffles, don't you know.

 

[rmrdaddy]

Indeed. Where I work there is a zero tolerance policy for alcohol, and anyone who fails a surprise test had better be able to produce a bottle of cough syrup on the spot. It is just a coincidence that I happen to have a prescription for just such a thing. A touch of the sniffles, don't you know.

I respect a man who is well prepared.....for an outbreak of colds! lol lol
Well done Slim!

 

[Ben]

I wonder how many poor business decisions were made back in the day by inebriated businessmen? :eusa_doh:

It also makes me wonder if any good ones were made.

Maybe someone got the courage to tell a boss he was making a bad mistake with the latest decision, or someone got the courage to take a risk that paid off, or someone was able to relax and come up with a new idea.

 

[Orvil Newton]

Drinking at lunch used to be a regular part of my business day. In the early eighties, our boss would insist on at least four beers with lunch and we were expected to join him. In fact, I once declined and ordered a Coke on the grounds that I had important work to complete in the afternoon. The boss told the waitress to take it away and bring me a beer.

In the last ten years or so, however, business got so competitive that most of us gradually stopped drinking at lunch. The company never adopted a no alcohol policy and we did continue to occasionally have a drink at lunch when entertaining clients but having a clear head in the afternoon was too important to risk more than one.

Evenings were a different story. I was on an expense account and bar tabs for entertaining clients or socializing with fellow industry execs and reps, were quite acceptable. One vice president I know was famous for his five figure bar tabs. I got to drink some really good bourbon on his dime

Now that I am retired of course, a pint or two at lunch followed by a good cigar and a leisurely stroll is the norm.:cool2:

 

[Miss 1929]

When I was last in the advertising field, we would have Dirty Martini Friday...the boss bought the booze, but I was in charge of making them.
Didn't get a lot done, but had fun!

 

[Tamamiko]

Oh how I wish I could have been a part of all that jazz. :sigh:

 

[Nash Buckingham]

These posts are interesting - I think with the computer age, business is conducted totally different,People do not seem to have time alloted for a real "Business Lunch" - maybe it's all the "on line" connections.And I wonder if "Executive Demeanor" has gone out the door with the dress codes.

Also as is pointed out, we drive everywhere - if you work in a city where you walk or take a cab it is a different situation.

(I was not condoning mixing alcohol and autos.by all means avoid drinking if driving)

The thing that seemed unusual to me was the large percentage of female patrons that were having an alcoholic beverage vs. the small percentage of males and I was curious if anyone else has observed that? (there was a large representation of age groups as well)

But the "Dirty Martini Friday" does sound like fun