A drunk employee misbehaves at a professional dinner
A cautionary tale about alcohol and professional conduct at networking events
A company once invited me to a private dinner to discuss the latest trends in data and analytics. Half of the participants were employees of this company, and it was clearly a professional event. To my dismay, one of those employees1 was drunk. Her name was Violet.
I sat directly across from her, and she accidentally kicked my shin while stretching her legs.
On multiple occasions, Violet interrupted other guests while they were speaking, just to offer her own bombastic opinions. At one point, the moderator, Randy, waited patiently for her to finish blabbering, then said, "So anyway, back to my original question......". Without saying so explicitly, Randy was quite annoyed by Violet’s interruption.
She spoke negatively about another company. While the substance of her criticism may have been valid, her comments were rather off-topic in that particular conversational direction. Furthermore, her tone and manner seemed vindictive.
These actions were blatantly unprofessional. If Violet did not drink any alcohol, then I doubt that she would have behaved in the same way. (I had never met her before, but I suspect that - even when sober - she is quite talkative and opinionated.)
Herein lies a lesson about professionalism - especially for early professionals: When you attend a company event, you need to behave in a professional manner, even if the setting is relatively casual with non-work-related conversations. Be especially vigilant about your alcohol intake. (An even better solution is to abstain from alcohol entirely.) You are there as a representative of your employer or your own business, so conduct yourself in a way that your employer or clients would condone.
I have changed her name and a few minor details to maintain confidentiality.