The bit about the "real quick drinks" made me think of something. Where I work, we don't go out for drinks much, and usually when we do there's some special occasion for it (somebody moving away, somebody's wife having a baby, whatever), and so the word usually spreads the day before or that morning that we'll be going out for drinks after work.

OK, no problem with any of that. But, the annoying part is that when the word spreads, it usually says we'll be going early, say, 4:30. But then 4:30 rolls around, and nobody's leaving. You peek out the office and see what everybody else is doing, they're all working. It's not til the boss decides he's ready, 4:45, 4:50, that everybody wraps up what they're doing to head out. I guess people just don't want to look too eager to leave early, but I say, why the hell not? It's work, they already said 4:30, leave early for crying out loud!