Forget that I ever existed

Mickey666

Jsacker said:

One thing I'm curious about, though, is when you said " It was fun while I was younger" - why would you not have liked the job during your older years in employment? Or why did you not make a long-term career out of it?

Fun though it was, it was just a job, ie something I needed to do for a salary.  As I gained more financial independence it became less important and as soon as I was able to retire early I took that opportunity.  Now I can pursue my other interests in my own time and am answerable to no one.

MalMonroe

Unlimited beer??? No, really? What about people who drive in to work? Or people who are alcoholics? Not to mention those of us who don't like beer but wouldn't mind a nice drop of Baileys.
 
I've worked at places where they've had free lunches, free beverages but not booze. I'd have been fit to snooze. Not work.

This HAS to be a wind up. But also, it's generated a LOT of interest. Well done, OP!

AskAsk

MalMonroe said:

Unlimited beer??? No, really? What about people who drive in to work? Or people who are alcoholics? Not to mention those of us who don't like beer but wouldn't mind a nice drop of Baileys.
 
I've worked at places where they've had free lunches, free beverages but not booze. I'd have been fit to snooze. Not work.

This HAS to be a wind up. But also, it's generated a LOT of interest. Well done, OP!

lol.  i hadn't thought of this as a wind up, but you are right.  it doesn't sound right that an employer would offer free booze in the office 

although the company i worked for often paid for free lunches and drinks at the local bars and the drinks were indeed unlimited.  i never paid for anything.

Savvy_Sue

A friend described doing external audit at a brewery. Each day, a case of beer would be provided by his desk. Sadly he wasn't allowed to accept it ...

AskAsk

Savvy_Sue said:

A friend described doing external audit at a brewery. Each day, a case of beer would be provided by his desk. Sadly he wasn't allowed to accept it ...

the weirdest gift was when my boss went to a meeting at a chicken factory one day and came back with 4 baby chicks.  he had been given them and he took them as pets for his kids.  he brought them, (the baby chicks, not his children), into the office first so we could all play with them before he took them home.  they were so cute.

Thrugelmir

Savvy_Sue said:

A friend described doing external audit at a brewery. Each day, a case of beer would be provided by his desk. Sadly he wasn't allowed to accept it ...

Many years ago I worked for Whitbread Take Home Division. Monthly perk was a tray of 24 large cans of beer (Heineken/Stella etc) or 6 bottles of wine.  Also when a case of wine/spirits was damaged in transit. It was returned to us. The storeman would salvage the undamaged bottles. We used to pick bottles of 25 year old Port for 10p.  Xmas party was best. The MD used to allocate a few grand for booze to purhased at cost price. Following day we'd return and literally fill our cars with what was left over. Which was considerable!

74jax

Way back (way, way, back..., 😂) on page 1, I think I posted the only positive comment about companies like this. Its actually been really interesting reading of other people's experiences and I guess my husband is just very lucky (in our eyes), it's really opened my eyes to other companies who offer this. 

sparkermarketing

MalMonroe said:

Unlimited beer??? No, really? What about people who drive in to work? Or people who are alcoholics? Not to mention those of us who don't like beer but wouldn't mind a nice drop of Baileys.
 
I've worked at places where they've had free lunches, free beverages but not booze. I'd have been fit to snooze. Not work.

This HAS to be a wind up. But also, it's generated a LOT of interest. Well done, OP!

It's not common but it is definitely a thing that some companies do.  The trick is that they don't actually expect or want people to drink during the working day, or get drunk every lunchtime - anyone who did that would quickly be out of the door.   They want to make it common to try and cut people off from the outside world as well as incentivise people to stay in the office later than normal working hours.

At 5pm do you go down to the pub to meet your mates? or have a few "free" beers sat at your desk just catching up on the last few emails or having a quick chat with colleagues about that project you are all working on, or other bits that you wouldn't be doing off site?

[Deleted User]

Mickey666 said:

I guess you're one of the cynical ones then?

I never said I wasn't happy at work and my point was that a win-win situation isn't really exploitation by either party, more of a fair exchange.  A lot of this stuff is all in the mind.  Unless you happen to believe that everything should ge given to people on a plate then it follows that people have to earn a living.  My approach has never been to simply ask who will give me any old job, it has always been how can I get what I want, how can I find a company that can provide me with work I'm interested in, a good salary and pleasant working conditions.  I don't see that as a race to the bottom of anything, in fact it means I had to up my game (education, qualifications, skills, experience etc) and companies have to do much the same (offer interesting work, good salaries, great working environments etc).

Of course, much depends on the market/industry but that's a choice people have to make for themselves and we all know that some jobs pay well and others don't, for example (money isn't everything of course).  There is also an element of 'luck', though in my experience people often make their own luck - good or bad - and from what I've seen 'bad' luck often arises through simply not having a 'life plan' to guide them through all the inevitable choices they'll be faced with, resulting in short-term thinking and poor decisions.  Perhaps it all boils down to ambition?

What I meant was people are unhappy at work because it appears one party has to be exploiting the other - and you'd better get in there quick and exploit them before they exploit you; rather than work being a respectful exchange of labour for pay.