If I need to keep a low profile at work, I surely am concerned if I want to hang out with the same group of people I work with outside the work.

They say work hard, but play harder. But how the heck are you going to play harder when Lady Boss may drop in and "say hello to everyone"?

DARN. Which means that you simply need to hold back on your alcohol intake. It's just uncool to smell like an alcoholic even though you look sober. You also cut back on the alcohol because you need to drive like a decent human being after the party. I can NOT tell Hubby I am out par-tay and that he needs to be my designated driver and come pick me up. Otherwise, it would be down right UGLY when the police bust a nurse's ass on the road for DUI.

So that you can't drink. But what are you going to talk about with these people?

I bet on my life that they will talk about work. HECK, I was there at work for the last 12 hours too. I know what had happened today. I do not want to know who had a RRT and was sent to the intensive unit. I do not want to know which family had a fit with the nurse and then called the customer service to file a complaint against us. When I punch out, the worry leaves at the doorstep behind me. My work does NOT pay me enough to worry about work after work. Besides, I am here to party. HELLO?

And I am not interested in their dirty scoop of how unloving their husbands/ boyfriends/ partners have become to them. Or how cute/ smart/ big their children have grown. Remember the days when you are an independant individual WITHOUT the husbands or children? Then maybe we can talk like grown adults too. But then again it may not be appropriate to talk about politics or religion. Well, it seems like there is not much neutral common ground to talk about. Then we might as well go back to talk about work again. The happy hour suddenly does not seem so happy anymore.

So that you can't drink and you can't talk. This is why I do not hang out with the people I work with.