Drinking and B-School

haha, just take pictures and blackmail them later on when they're CEOs

Interesting thread, with lots of things to comment on. My comments:

1) Not drinking entirely may put you at a disadvantage on certain situations / industries as explained. In certain situations, you would be unsuitable for some jobs if you don't drink, while in others being able to not drink for long periods of time would be an asset. Whether we like it or not the ability to drink (typically in a controlled manner) is a factor, along with tatoos, beards, long or short hair, height & weight, baldness, gray hair, the ability to play golf, etc. I think US laws would probably prohibit considering any of these factors for most jobs, but employers can find ways around it by clustering these factors into the ubiquitous "fit" category. On the other hand, I think that peer pressure won't be that great as most B-school students should be able to respect your decisions. I would, however, explain your motives for not drinking at least once, to avoid the speculation about your motives that would probably evolve if you didn't.

2) As said, there's several ways to fake drinking (if that's what you want). I usually take either Coca Cola or Jack & Coke and nobody ever figures out which is which. Same applies to Gin & tonic vs. sprite, etc. They are mostly undistinguishable, unless tasted, of course. Additionally, an easy way to avoid being pulled into some collective round is stating that the liquor being invited does not agree with you "since I had a whole bottle back in spring break of 02 and almost died". That usually does the trick (and is more or less the case I have with Tequila - still can't drink the stuff). If you are being asked what you are drinking to be invited another round, then you can order the alcohol version (Gin & tonic), use a straw and fake drinking for a few seconds, until you drift away and exchange the drink for the fake.

3) My method to drinking heavily without hangovers (I have been using it for 4 years now from time to time, with no complaints so far):
a) Drink either scotch or bourbon. No other liquors, no beer, no champagne, no fancy cocktails.
b) Stop when you are about to lose it (the most difficult part, I usually accomplish this by taking limited cash and no cards).
c) Drink at least 1.5 liters of water (that's about 3/8 gal) at the end of the night.
d) Sleep at least 8 hours.
e) Don't drink any alcohol until about 24hs after going to bed.

L.

Well, as far as dealing with hangovers, water is the most important factor. 2 tylenol and a lot of water before bed does the trick for me. Liquor type and amount isn't much of a factor, although if you drink so much that you are still drunk when you wake up, that's a different story.

Like Lepium pointed out, for certain industries, not drinking is like having long hair or dying it purple. You might be able to overcome it, but it could be tough. Ibankers and consultants all tend to party hard.

My brother is an equity analyst and said many ceo's drink heavily. At functions, they are already tipsy before dinner and many appear to be really drunk as the night progresses.

He has a picture of a very well known analyst slouched on a sofa, unconscious at function.

Pelihu..I wouldn't take tylenol..You can get severe liver damage that way..people have gone into Acute liver failure when combining alcohol and tylenol...and liver damage can be silent..you may not know it's happening until it's too late.

You're right James (actually you're jameswright, har har), that's probably not a good idea, although as I understand it, toxicity occurs with severe overdoses and repetitive long-term use. But, I'm not getting any younger so I'm definitely going to watch that.

I actually think that water is the biggest factor. Dehydration and lack of liquids other than alcohol are probably the biggest cuases of hangovers.

My hangover prevention suggestion:

Let's say you're out drinking w/ classmates or whatever, and you get home late at night and are pretty drunk and tired, instead of just chugging water or whatever you normally do, and going directly to bed, force yourself to stay up for an hour or so before crashing out. Watch TV or play Solitaire or whatever it takes to kill an hour. I'm not sure why this works so well, but if I had to guess I'd say your body is able to metabolize the alcohol more efficiently when you're awake than when you're asleep or something like that.

So water, a little food, and staying up for an extra hour or so will make you feel much better in the morning. Also, taking a shower and brushing your teeth before bed will help with the mental aspect of the hangover (you know the part where you wake up feeling like a gross lush) because you'll wake up feeling a little bit crisper. Also if you spend that hour I talked about the night before doing something productive like washing your dishes or organizing your desk (which I realize sounds stupid to do when you're drunk) you'll feel less like a drunk bum when you wake up.

good luck with that going to stern johnny!! hahahaha

Kidderek - Yeah seriously. Aside from maybe Las Vegas I can't think of a city with more distractions than new york.

hangover cure: milk thistle. you can find it in any vitamin/supplement shop. Just take one before you go to bed and one in the morning. I've gone through one-week college vacations without feeling hungover. and there were nights when my sole purpose was to see if i could get hungover!

P.S. I am not condoning going on one-week benders, especially while in B-School.

haha...I have experienced that a few times

I think hangover prevention methods vary a bit among individuals. For me, if I down 2 glasses of water and get adequate sleep, never wake up feeling like crap. For me, getting enough sleep is the key.

Born and raised in new york, and now living in time square, i can vouch for what you say. I never want to stay in my apartment and when i do, all i do is throw parties. hahahaha!!!!!!

It's gotten to the point where I don't even want to travel anymore. I've been to big cities around the US, but I don't think I'm going to be going anymore. NYC, for me, has everything and I really don't want to travel. I've never been to Florida either. I feel that the best beaches are outside of the US. Which is why I have traveled to the Dominican Republic and Brazil when I want to go to a beach =]]]]]]]]]

As for Vegas, I am going there for training in a couple of months but I'm not really looking forward to it. NYers go to Atlantic City, NJ when we feel like gambling... I know it's called Sin city but I feel that all of the pleasures of Vegas can be found here in NYC. I am not the touristy-type so I don't plan on going sight-seeing, having a camera in one hand and a map in the other, etc.

sorry for straying off topic. please dont arrest me.

I agree with johnny. If I stay up for an extra hour I seem to feel so much better. Or maybe it's just because if I go directly to bed the world starts spinning.

I would also add drinking orange juice as well as water. I remember reading something about how oragnge juice just helps you metabolize the alcohol better. So a virgin screwdriver might be a good last drink at the bar.

the big trick is to stop drinking alcohol and start drinking water at least an hour before you go to bed. don't think you can down a couple of glasses of water before falling into bed and get away with it!

back from the dead!!!!

I'd like to add a couple of perspectives to this....

1) Different cultures.

I work in a multi-cultural environment... I guess most business schools will be the same where there will be people from different cultures. Some cultures do not drink. This is acceptable, so there should NOT be any pressure to drink at all. Most multi-national companies are fully aware of cultural differences to drinking, so you should not be expected to drink if you don't want to whther it be cultural, personal or a religious choice.

2) Getting drunk

Working in Japan, they have a different perspective to acting a fool when you are drunk. Even in a professional meeting, if you get drunk and act foolishly, it is forgiven the next day and not mentioned at all. This is the norm for the culture here. That's why you can see the Japanese do some crazy things when they are drunk.

It's all about understanding the cultural differences and adopting them to the environment in which you are drinking or not drinking in.

Remember boys and girls, you are in or about to go into a multi-cultural eyes widening experience so make sure you are culturally flexible and open-minded about different types of behaviours.

Ideally you throw in the odd glass of water THROUGHOUT the entire evening in order to never start the de-hydration in the first place (that's what causes the headache). That plus an aspirine before bed and the non-smoking bars of the US should do the trick.

Turmeric does the job fine.

Take a couple of turmeric pills and it helps your body to process the alcohol quicker. They sell it here in Japan.