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Three Tips for adjusting relationships to the After-Work Drinks Culture
Breaking out of the post-pandemic cocoon
If you’re feeling uncomfortable about your partner’s after-work drink events, two threads on the internet tend to come up. One points out that you’re a jealous and controlling type, the other is that your partner is a potential alcoholic. Still, there can be more to it. As the world has opened up again, relationships are strained by social pressure to break out of the pandemic bubble of two and once again be individuals. The biggest rift in my relationship is the rise of after-work drinks. I agree, in the big city working crazy hours my partner is due for his fair share of drinks. Yet feeling repeatedly excluded, I call out that something is amiss.
‘It’s not just me, it’s you, babe. ‘
At first I blamed my anxiety about my boyfriend’s after-work drinks on myself. The isolation and frustration of working from home, saw me emerge out of the pandemic more insecure of myself — be it my looks or capabilities. My personal insecurity is certainly a factor in my feeling of discomfort over his escapades but so is his inaction to make me feel safe when he goes out without me. It’s taken me months to realize this missing piece. Instead of the internet calling me out for jealous behavior, what I…
