Originally Posted by
KRSW
The only place in the USA I find active bars/clubs are near beaches.
US society's changed views on drinking and business substantially in 40 years. I remember my parents' office when I was growing up. It was practically a frat house. At one point they shut the office down for a week to play Dungeons and Dragons. The fridge always had plenty of beer in it, the conference room had plenty of booze. Having a drink with your lunch, or even at your desk, wasn't that unusual. These days that's completely taboo. Even alcohol consumption in the USA is down from where it was in the mid-1980s.
Not so taboo in the tech world yet. I've worked at companies/work at a company now where beer fridges in lounges, kegs in kitchenettes, team liquor shelves, and so on are commonplace. I've been told but never verified that this is made possible by each of the company's buildings having a liquor license so drinks can be served at company or team events.
For one team I worked on, our "events" were as routine as "Thursdays at 4 PM."