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Don’t drink and dial

Posted on December 17, 2009, 9:09am and updated on December 17, 2009 at 1:14 pm

Drink dial
Drink dial and you’ll probably cringe in the morning, according to a recent survey that revealed many South Australians have “a bit too much Christmas cheer” at their end-of-year work shows.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle has warned them to reduce the rate of telephone shenanigans that may seem harmless at the time, but lead to regret and embarrassment the next day.

According to Mr McCrindle, calling to flirt with an ex was one of the most common mishaps of drink dialling.

He said behaving badly at work functions could not only harm personal and professional relationship, it could ruin your reputation and reduce your chance of promotion.

Mount Gambier Group Training Employment general manager Brenton Lewis agreed.

Mr Lewis said he could not stress enough the impact alcohol induced misbehaviour could have on employees, particularly young people.

“People need to be aware their behaviour could be offensive to others and diminish others’ opinions of them,” he said.

“This Christmas GTE will have 220 apprentices and trainees in its employ, most of whom fall into the ‘high risk’ age group of thinking they’re bulletproof.

“Their safety is paramount and we urge them to be careful with alcohol consumption at and outside work functions.”

Mr Lewis also issued the age-old warning against drink driving, which despite the authorities’ best efforts, continues to be a problem.

“Most people’s jobs depend on their drivers’ licences and the potential consequences just aren’t worth the risk,” he said.

“Inappropriate behaviour may jeopardise employment, particularly in trade areas where a lot of companies won’t employ someone with a criminal conviction — such as assault — because they are not allowed to work on government sites like schools or prisons.”

Doug Andrews, manager of The South Eastern Hotel, which hosts about four work shows each weekend in the lead-up to Christmas, said the standard of behaviour had picked up in recent years.

“We used to have a lot of bigger company functions here over Christmas, no limit to the tab on the bar and they used to run amok a bit, but there are a lot more smaller shows now,” he said.

“Although there’s usually someone who wants to act like a clown, the others tell them to pull their heads in.

“What happens when they leave and head into town I don’t know, but people are generally light hearted here.”

Meanwhile, Mr McCrindle said with mobiles being so popular people needed to be a little careful at festive celebrations.

“Almost half of those surveyed said they had contacted family members and said something inappropriate, while the same number had drunk dialled an ex-partner after their end-of-year party,” he said.

“Ending up in inappropriate situations can have devastating consequences, professionally and socially.

Christmas party etiquette

  • DON’T behave inappropriately: these days it’s so easy to capture evidence with a mobile phone that could expose your behaviour, or worse still, end up on the internet.
  • DO eat the food on offer, keep track of how many drinks you’ve had, make the effort to meet colleagues you don’t normally mix with, turn up on time.
  • DON’T jump in front of every camera for a photo, go for a “few drinks” beforehand, engage in public kisses or whine about the Christmas party location.
  • DO wait until you’re thinking clearly to text your boss to give them feedback or resign.
  • DON’T text your ex to tell them you love them — best to do this when you’re sober and don’t regret it in the morning!

People have also been urged to lock their phone with a PIN, ensuring others can’t access personal information, and store an “in case of emergency” contact number in their phone.

ELLIE TURNER

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Comments

One Response to “Don’t drink and dial”

  1. No Fun!!!! on December 17th, 2009 10:16 am 1

    Can’t drink and drive, can’t drink and walk home anymore, can’t drink and take a cab in case you heave in the back seat, can’t drink and phone, can’t drink and text.

    See a pattern developing here, from now on will just sit and drink, nothing else!

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