The Not-So-Secret Virtues of Virtual Happy Hours 🍹
I began to write this article one week into my quarantine.
It started with a comical set of relatable tropes around business happy hours. It cracked jokes at business casual attire 👔, $2 chicken wings 🍗, and that one person who’s always trying to herd the group out-the-door together like we’re an unruly kindergarten class 🚸.
It started as a listicle—your typical, click-baity blog post format. One we’re familiar with, but fall prey to for its satiating predictability.
It started with all the ways that virtual happy hours were an upgrade to their IRL counterparts. Anecdotes of virtual backgrounds entertaining our co-worker’s 4-year old via Princess Elsa. Or stories of a co-worker, hunkered down on a farm, with his laptop propped up so we could watch the animals 🐖, while challenging one another for the most realistic donkey impression.
I started this article to make you laugh at the idea that this was one happy hour where you could be sure none of your co-workers would accidentally end up sharing more than an innocent Lyft ride home 🙈.
But somehow, 15 days later, 21 days into my own quarantine — none of that feels relevant. In fact, it feels superfluous and trite. Because, reality is setting in.
And while I started this article to unearth the secret benefits of Chime’s newly instated virtual happy hours 🥂 (and company team-building events of the remote kind), I’m here to tell you that the benefits of working for a thriving company of engaged, vibrant, mission-driven people are not hiding 🔭. They are in plain sight.
It’s not the games, or the drinks, or seeing who actually got dressed for the day. It’s the connection, the spirit, and the shared goals. It’s seeing the same faces every day, despite the distance. It’s meeting for coffee at 9:15 and for cocktails (mocktails for me) at 5:30. It’s the little doses of humor and normalcy. It’s asking ‘how many steps have you taken today?’ And if your answer is insufficient, it’s the impromptu virtual workout that happens that night. It’s asking ‘what do you actually do with fresh ginger?’ and 5 people quickly sending their recipes. And it’s knowing that if you don’t show up, someone will care why.
Chime has given me more than job and financial security during an insecure time. It’s given me connection. It’s given me purpose. It’s given me community and genuine friendships. And, yes, it’s given me virtual happy hours. So, while it’s uncertain for how much longer I may be isolated…I won’t be alone.💚
This piece was written by Erin Opperman, a Design Manager of Brand & Marketing at Chime.
