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喝酒有助于升迁?

Feeling the Pressure to Drink for Work
喝酒有助于升迁?

As an ad-sales executive with Forbes magazine, Terry Lavin worked hard to earn his reputation as a dependable drinking buddy.

作为《福布斯》杂志的一名广告销售主管,特里·拉文(Terry Lavin)努力为自己赢取了“可靠酒友”的美誉。

"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)租了块儿地方,”他指的是曼哈顿中城的酒吧(纽约市最古老最有名的酒吧之一),“我总是最后一个走,手上永远端着杯鸡尾酒。”

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.

对于这个要靠人望来维持的行当,如此角色为他的成功帮了大忙。直至2010年,他才决定让身体好好休整一下,戒酒6个月。结果是健康改善了,业绩却没有。
 

特里·拉文在曼哈顿的Pig 'n' Whistle酒吧里,喝着一杯苏打水。

"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.' "

“我本想打电话给那些关系不错的,手上抓着大笔广告预算的人,问问他们是否愿意出去小聚一下,或者吃点儿东西,”他回忆道,“可他们说‘你喝酒么?不喝?那算啦。’”

So much for the benefits of the sober life.

清醒生活的益处也就这么多了。

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.

尽管由三杯马提尼陪伴的午餐和泛滥着威士忌的员工会议越发难以在电视外的实际生活中找到,但美国的大量商业潜规则仍旧围着酒精打转。无论是为了赢得一个客户,草拟一份交易,还是仅仅想证明你是个容易合作的人,对于很多工作来讲,痛饮一巡都比打一场漂亮的高尔夫重要得多。

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.

那些滴酒不沾的职业人士——可能是为了健康、宗教原因,也可能是已经戒了酒或仅仅出于个人喜好——无论因为哪项,只要不愿将其抛诸脑后,似乎事业就难以更上一层楼。

"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."

“大家希望你会喝酒,喝酒就是工作的一部分。你如果说不喝,大家就会有点缩手缩脚的了。”针对法律工作者的特殊治疗项目(该项目去年由海瑟顿治疗中心[Hazelden]——位于明尼苏达的酒精与毒品康复中心建立)的主管林克·克里斯汀(Link Christin)说:“如果你声明自己不喝酒,你就要搞定其他人对你是否懂游戏规则所产生的怀疑。”

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.

想在现实中体会这种观念,看今年的总统大选就行。为了向选民推销米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)这个禁酒的摩门教徒跟广大美国人民格格不入的看法,奥巴马总统大肆表演着他“普通人式的”对啤酒的热爱。

"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!"

“昨天我去了趟博览会,吃了块猪排,喝了杯啤酒,”奥巴马在8月时冲着爱荷华的群众夸口道。前一天他扫荡了一个啤酒摊,给自己和另外10个去集市的人买酒。“真是棒啊。今天我只喝了酒,没吃猪排。但是光有啤酒也很不错。”人群对他报以《再来四杯》(Four more beers!)的大合唱(Rick Moranis的歌曲——译注)。

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.)

当奥巴马与爱荷华州诺克斯维尔的一名咖啡店客人共饮了一瓶家酿啤酒后,大众要求他将秘方广而告之。白宫充分利用了这次机会:为一份请愿书索要2.5万个签名。(最后白宫大发慈悲,在要到1.2万个签名后就公布了两个酿酒秘方。)

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.)

这种战略在政客中早已不稀罕。爱德华·M·肯尼迪(Edward M. Kennedy)在1980年总统预选时指责吉米·卡特(Jimmy Carter)的白宫里酒精匮乏。而近年来这也变成了民意调查人的老生常谈:选民愿意跟谁喝一杯,就给谁投票。(最后入主白宫的禁酒者乔治·W·布什[George W. Bush]至少也要保证偶尔拿瓶O’Doul’s无醇啤酒照张相。)

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.

对于曝光率低一些的公众人物而言,有种说法是:不能喝酒的人不能成事——或者更糟——不值得信任。这会妨碍到他们的职业发展。

"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.

“大家会认为你无能,”一名戒酒者说(他是一本以品酒为主的生活方式杂志的编辑。他让我们不要透露他的身份,因为大多数同事都不知道他最近刚加入了“12步戒瘾计划”。)

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.

拒绝喝酒造成职场上的劣势从客观表面——那位编辑因无法参与试酒而只能拒绝一个有希望的升职机会——到细微之处都有所体现。

"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.' "

“我现在经常推掉和业界人士的午餐和晚餐,以前我可都是踊跃参加的,”这位编辑说:“我不能跟一个酒商出去吃饭然后告诉他:‘不,谢谢,我不尝那种东西。’”

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.

即便你的工作与酒精无关,也不会体会不到这点。约翰·克雷普萨克 (John Crepsac)是纽约一名为戒酒的华尔街员工提供咨询服务的治疗师,他说,在风靡着“美女与美酒”式生活的华尔街,不喝酒的人抱怨说他们“无法完成交易,甚至无法启动早期商谈,就因为自己不热衷于畅饮。”

Social scientists refer to it as "social capital," the amount of economic potential to be harnessed from one's capacity to fit in.

社会科学家将其称作“社交资本”:一个人的适应力中可发掘的经济潜力。

"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?' "

“有时候我明知道同事们要和那些能帮助我事业进步的客户一起出去,”一名不喝酒的华尔街交易员说。他不愿透露姓名,因为公司禁止员工与媒体对话。“但大家就是难以言明:‘不邀请他是因为我们点的东西,他不会跟我们一起喝,那叫他干嘛?’”

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.

诚然,清醒与成功也并非互不相容。沃伦·巴菲特(Warren Buffett)、唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)、小约瑟夫·R·拜登(Joseph R. Biden Jr.)和拉里·艾利森(Larry Ellison)都是终身滴酒不沾。无论罗姆尼是否能赢得大选,他也已经是个成功者了。

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."

按照以往的双重标准,不喝酒的女性实际上还可能从中受益。“人们始终希望男性扎堆在一起、表现得野性,但对热衷于此的女性却难免皱眉。”克雷普萨克提到很少有女病人抱怨不饮酒阻碍了她们的事业发展。“在职场中,女性可能由于多种多样的原因而受歧视,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.

研究结果仍然支持此观点:不喝酒的人更难攀登公司的晋升阶梯。许多调查都显示只喝一点酒的人比完全不喝的人挣得多,不过酒鬼要比饮酒节制的人挣得少。

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.

想有所作为的压力时常让正在戒酒中的职业人士故态复萌。正因为此,海瑟顿专为想保持清醒的律师建立了一个支援小组。

"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.

“在律师事务所里,招商引资的压力空前增加,”前诉讼律师、成功戒酒者克里斯汀说。当一个人必须要在维系家庭和喝酒之间抉择时,坚持到底是很艰难的。

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).

滴酒不沾的人试图创立一些无需酒精也能专业地进行社交的策略。有些人会点一杯酒然后放着不喝;有些人会利用幽默来转移不希望的关注。“我告诉大家我怀孕了。”一名华尔街交易商(男性)说。

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.

离开广告销售业改行写书的拉文提议:让服务员把你的饮料装在迷惑人的玻璃杯中。“如果人们看见你用玻璃杯喝赛尔脱兹(seltzer)苏打水,他们就会淡定得多。”

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.

公平还是需要存在的。前按揭公司管理人员乔·麦金西(Joe McKinsey)在纽约州东汉普顿为高管们开了一家康复诊所。他说,自己成功戒酒、在工作中保持清醒后仅仅几个月,就由一个众人取笑的对象变为了身处同样麻烦的人的密友。

"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."

“最后就会有人来唠叨,问‘我是不是不对劲啊?’”他说:“如果你需要私下里谈谈,我就是那个排忧解难的人。”
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