Tonight I went out to dinner with a few coworkers and their friends.  Initially, it was supposed to be a happy hour sort of thing, but two of the guys got caught up with work, so we didn’t leave until about 6:30.  We were also going to celebrate one guy’s birthday and his pending departure to go to business school.  It turned out to be a great meal and it made me wish that our company organized some happy hours for coworkers to spend time together after work.

I have a friend who goes to happy hour with her coworkers nearly every week (or at least has the opportunity to) and I think that’d be a nice thing for my office too.  I mean, we do have lunches together pretty frequently, but there’s always a time constraint and people can’t really unwind like they could on a Friday after work.  Plus, people seem to bond better over alcohol and the whole nighttime scene makes things feel more intimate.  I mentioned this to one of the coworkers who was out with us and he thought it was a good idea as well.  Perhaps I’ll try to arrange something and start a new office tradition!