Feeling the Pressure to Drink for Work
喝酒有助於升遷？
By DOUGLAS QUENQUA October 23, 2012
翻譯：孫舒雯
 

As an ad-sales executive with Forbes magazine, Terry Lavin worked hard to earn his reputation as a dependable drinking buddy.
作為《富比世》雜誌的一名廣告銷售主管，特裡‧拉文（Terry Lavin）努力為自己贏取了“可靠酒友”的美譽。

“I just basically rented space at P. J. Clarke’s,” he said, referring to the Midtown Manhattan watering hole. “I was always the last to leave, always had a cocktail in my hand.”
“我基本上算是在P‧J‧克拉克（P. J. Clarke’s）租了塊兒地方，”他指的是曼哈頓中城的酒吧（紐約市最古老最有名的酒吧之一），“我總是最後一個走，手上永遠端著杯雞尾酒。”

In a business built on likability, the role helped him succeed. Until 2010, when he decided to give his body a break and quit drinking for six months. His health got better; his business did not.
對於這個要靠人望來維持的行當，如此角色為他的成功幫了大忙。直至2010年，他才決定讓身體好好休整一下，戒酒6個月。結果是健康改善了，業績卻沒有。

“I would call guys I was friendly with, guys who had their hands on big ad budgets, to see if they wanted to go to happy hour or get something to eat,” he recalled, “And they’d say: ‘Are you drinking? No? Don’t worry about it.’”
“我本想打電話給那些關係不錯的，手上抓著大筆廣告預算的人，問問他們是否願意出去小聚一下，或者吃點兒東西，”他回憶道，“可是他們說‘你喝酒麼？不喝？那算啦。’”

So much for the benefits of the sober life.
清醒生活的益處也就這麼多了。

Even as three-martini lunches and whiskey-fueled staff meetings become harder to find outside of cable TV, plenty of American business rituals continue to revolve around alcohol. Whether it's courting a client, sketching out a deal or simply proving you're a team player, quaffing a round of beers is arguably more vital to many jobs than nailing a round of golf.
儘管由三杯馬提尼陪伴的午餐和氾濫著威士忌的員工會議越發難以在電視外的實際生活中找到，但美國的大量商業潛規則仍舊圍著酒精打轉。無論是為了贏得一個客戶，草擬一份交易，還是僅僅想證明你是個容易合作的人，對於很多工作來講，痛飲一巡都比打一場漂亮的高爾夫重要得多。

For professionals who abstain from alcohol – for health, religion, recovery or simple preference – it can sometimes seem harder to get ahead if you're not willing to throw one back.
那些滴酒不沾的職業人士 — 可能是為了健康、宗教原因，也可能是已經戒了酒或僅僅出於個人喜好 — 無論因為哪項，只要不願將其拋諸腦後，似乎事業就難以更上一層樓。

“You’re expected to drink, and drinking is part of what you do, and there’s a little bit of circumspection if you say you don’t do it,” said Link Christin, director of a special treatment program for legal professionals started last year by Hazelden, a network of alcohol- and drug-rehabilitation centers based in Minnesota. "If you say you don't drink, you have to deal with the suspicion that you can't play the game.”
“大家希望你會喝酒，喝酒就是工作的一部分。你如果說不喝，大家就會有點縮手縮腳的了。”針對法律工作者的特殊治療項目（該項目去年由海瑟頓治療中心[Hazelden] — 位於明尼蘇達的酒精與毒品康復中心建立）的主管林克‧克裡斯汀（Link Christin）說：“如果你聲明自己不喝酒，你就要搞定其他人對你是否懂遊戲規則所產生的懷疑。”

To find that attitude in action, look no further than this year’s presidential campaign. As a part of his pitch to voters that Mitt Romney, a teetotaler Mormon, is different from most Americans, President Obama has made a conspicuous display of his own regular-guy fondness for beer.
想在現實中體會這種觀念，看今年的總統大選就行。為了向選民推銷米特‧羅姆尼（Mitt Romney）這個禁酒的摩門教徒跟廣大美國人民格格不入的看法，奧巴馬總統大肆表演著他“普通人式的”對啤酒的熱愛。

“Yesterday I went to the State Fair, and I had a pork chop and a beer,” Mr. Obama boasted to an Iowa crowd in August the day after he closed down a beer kiosk so he could buy brews for himself and 10 other fairgoers. “And it was good. Today I just had a beer. I didn’t get the pork chop. But the beer was good, too.” The crowd rewarded him with chants of “Four more beers!”
“昨天我去了趟博覽會，吃了塊豬排，喝了杯啤酒，”奧巴馬在8月時沖著愛荷華的群眾誇口道。前一天他掃蕩了一個啤酒攤，給自己和另外10個去集市的人買酒。“真是棒啊。今天我只喝了酒，沒吃豬排。但是光有啤酒也很不錯。”人群對他報以《再來四杯》（Four more beers!）的大合唱（Rick Moranis的歌曲 — 譯注）。

When the public demanded that Mr. Obama release his recipes for home brews after he shared a bottle of one with a coffee shop patron in Knoxville, Iowa, the White House milked the moment by first demanding 25,000 signatures on a petition. (The White House eventually relented, releasing two recipes after just 12,000 signatures.)
當奧巴馬與愛荷華州諾克斯維爾的一名咖啡店客人共飲了一瓶家釀啤酒後，大眾要求他將秘方廣而告之。白宮充分利用了這次機會：為一份請願書索要2.5萬個簽名。（最後白宮大發慈悲，在要到1.2萬個簽名後就公佈了兩個釀酒秘方。）

It’s hardly a new tactic among politicians. Edward M. Kennedy complained about the lack of alcohol in Jimmy Carter’s White House as he prepared to challenge the president in the 1980 primaries. And it has become a pollsters’ truism in recent years that voters choose the candidate they'd rather have a beer with. (The most recent nondrinker to take the White House, George W. Bush, at least made sure he was occasionally photographed holding a nonalcoholic O’Doul’s.)
這種戰略在政客中早已不稀罕。愛德華‧M‧甘迺迪（Edward M. Kennedy）在1980年總統預選時指責吉米‧卡特（Jimmy Carter）的白宮裡酒精匱乏。而近年來這也變成了民意調查人的老生常談：選民願意跟誰喝一杯，就給誰投票。（最後入主白宮的禁酒者喬治‧W‧布希[George W. Bush]至少也要保證偶爾拿瓶O’Doul’s無醇啤酒照張相。）

For less public figures, the notion that people who don’t drink can’t perform in business – or, worse, are somehow untrustworthy – can impede professional progress.
對於曝光率低一些的公眾人物而言，有種說法是：不能喝酒的人不能成事 — 或者更糟 — 不值得信任。這會妨礙到他們的職業發展。

“There is a perception almost that you’re impotent,” said one nondrinker, an editor at a liquor-focused lifestyle magazine who asked not to be identified because many of his co-workers don't know he recently entered a 12-step program.
“大家會認為你無能，”一名戒酒者說（他是一本以品酒為主的生活方式雜誌的編輯。他讓我們不要透露他的身份，因為大多數同事都不知道他最近剛加入了“12步戒癮計畫”。）

Professional disadvantages to sobriety range from the literal – the editor had to decline a potential promotion because it would have involved wine tasting – to subtle.
拒絕喝酒造成職場上的劣勢從客觀表面 — 那位編輯因無法參與試酒而只能拒絕一個有希望的升職機會 — 到細微之處都有所體現。

“I regularly turn down lunches and dinners with industry people that I would have jumped at in the past,” the editor said. “I just can’t go to dinner with a winemaker and tell him: ‘No, thank you. I’m not tasting those.’”
“我現在經常推掉和業界人士的午餐和晚餐，以前我可都是踴躍參加的，”這位編輯說：“我不能跟一個酒商出去吃飯然後告訴他：‘不，謝謝，我不嘗那種東西。’”

One hardly has to work directly with alcohol to experience this. On Wall Street, where a “models and bottles” lifestyle prevails, those who don’t drink” complain that they can’t close a deal, can’t even get into early negotiations because they won’t engage in drinking behaviors,” said John Crepsac, a New York City therapist who counsels Wall Street workers in recovery.
即便你的工作與酒精無關，也不會體會不到這點。約翰‧克雷普薩克（John Crepsac）是紐約一名為戒酒的華爾街員工提供諮詢服務的治療師，他說，在風靡著“美女與美酒”式生活的華爾街，不喝酒的人抱怨說他們“無法完成交易，甚至無法啟動早期商談，就因為自己不熱衷於暢飲。”

Social scientists refer to it as “social capital,” the amount of economic potential to be harnessed from one's capacity to fit in.
社會科學家將其稱作“社交資本”：一個人的適應力中可發掘的經濟潛力。

“There were times I knew the guys were going out with customers that could help advance my career,” said one nondrinking Wall Street trader who asked to remain anonymous because his employer doesn’t allow staff members to talk to the media, “but it was just unspoken: ‘Yeah, we won’t invite him ‘cause we’ll probably get up to some drinking and he won’t partake, so what’s the point?’”
“有時候我明知道同事們要和那些能説明我事業進步的客戶一起出去，”一名不喝酒的華爾街交易員說。他不願透露姓名，因為公司禁止員工與媒體對話。“但大家就是難以言明：‘不邀請他是因為我們點的東西，他不會跟我們一起喝，那叫他幹嘛？’”

Of course, sobriety and success are not mutually exclusive. Warren Buffett, Donald Trump, Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Larry Ellison are all lifetime abstainers. Whether or not he wins, Mr. Romney hasn't lacked for success, either.
誠然，清醒與成功也並非互不相容。沃倫‧巴菲特（Warren Buffett）、唐納德‧特朗普（Donald Trump）、小約瑟夫‧R‧拜登（Joseph R. Biden Jr.）和拉裡‧艾利森（Larry Ellison）都是終身滴酒不沾。無論羅姆尼是否能贏得大選，他也已經是個成功者了。

And sober women might actually benefit from an old double standard. “Men are still expected to get together and go wild, but in some ways it’s frowned upon if the woman engages in it,” Dr. Crepsac said, noting that few of his female patients have complained that sobriety hurt their careers. “There are plenty of things for which women are discriminated against in the workplace, but this isn’t one of them.”

按照以往的雙重標準，不喝酒的女性實際上還可能從中受益。“人們始終希望男性紮堆在一起、表現得野性，但對熱衷於此的女性卻難免皺眉。”克雷普薩克提到很少有女病人抱怨不飲酒阻礙了她們的事業發展。“在職場中，女性可能由於多種多樣的原因而受歧視，但不包括喝酒。”

Still, research supports the idea that nondrinkers have a harder time climbing the corporate ladder. Multiple studies have shown that moderate drinkers earn more money than those who don't drink, though heavy drinkers earn less than moderate drinkers.
研究結果仍然支持此觀點：不喝酒的人更難攀登公司的晉升階梯。許多調查都顯示只喝一點酒的人比完全不喝的人掙得多，不過酒鬼要比飲酒節制的人掙得少。

That pressure to perform can sometimes cause professionals in recovery to backslide. This is one reason that Hazelden created a support group especially for lawyers who are trying to stay sober.
想有所作為的壓力時常讓正在戒酒中的職業人士故態復萌。正因為此，海瑟頓專為想保持清醒的律師建立了一個支援小組。

“The pressure to bring in business at legal firms, to be a rainmaker, is greater than ever,” said Mr. Christin, a former litigation lawyer and a recovered alcoholic. When someone must choose between supporting his or her family and having a glass of wine, it can be tough to stay the course, he said.
“在律師事務所裡，招商引資的壓力空前增加，”前訴訟律師、成功戒酒者克裡斯汀說。當一個人必須要在維繫家庭和喝酒之間抉擇時，堅持到底是很艱難的。

Teetotalers tend to develop strategies for socializing professionally without alcohol. Some will order a drink and simply leave it alone; others use humor to deflect unwanted attention. “I tell people I’m pregnant,” said the Wall Street trader (a man).
滴酒不沾的人試圖創立一些無需酒精也能專業地進行社交的策略。有些人會點一杯酒然後放著不喝；有些人會利用幽默來轉移不希望的關注。“我告訴大家我懷孕了。”一名華爾街交易商（男性）說。

Mr. Lavin, who is on leave from ad sales to write a book, advises asking for your drink in deceiving glassware. “People are much calmer if you’re drinking a seltzer water out of a rocks glass,” he said.
離開廣告銷售業改行寫書的拉文提議：讓服務員把你的飲料裝在迷惑人的玻璃杯中。“如果人們看見你用玻璃杯喝賽爾脫茲（seltzer）蘇打水，他們就會淡定得多。”

And there is justice to be had. Joe McKinsey, a former mortgage executive who opened a rehab clinic for executives in East Hampton, N.Y., after his own recovery, said it had taken only a few months of being sober at his old job to go from a target of ridicule to a confidant for those in trouble.
公平還是需要存在的。前按揭公司管理人員喬‧麥金西（Joe McKinsey）在紐約州東漢普頓為高管們開了一家康復診所。他說，自己成功戒酒、在工作中保持清醒後僅僅幾個月，就由一個眾人取笑的物件變為了身處同樣麻煩的人的密友。

“Eventually you get people buttonholing you, asking, ‘Do you think I have a problem?’” he said. “I became the go-to guy if you needed to have a private talk.”
“最後就會有人來嘮叨，問‘我是不是不對勁啊？’”他說：“如果你需要私下裡談談，我就是那個排憂解難的人。”

原文參照：
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/01/feeling-the-pressure-to-drink-for-work/