Cheers to That! Woman and Colleague Make Drink Date. Actually Keep It.
On a recent Monday, in the garden of Flatbush Farm in Park Slope, Brooklyn, Sonya Swartz and Jena Lorenzo did something they never do with colleagues: sit down, order a glass of lambrusco and a mojito, and drink them. Also: They talked.
“Normally, when I make plans to have drinks with someone in my industry, the day we’re supposed to get together arrives and we both just blow it off,” said Ms. Swartz, a 32-year-old freelance copywriter.
Of her time with Ms. Lorenzo, the 38-year New York City-based advertising director at Wieden & Kennedy, she said, “It felt really different to actually follow through on our plan though, of course, we had rescheduled it 4 times.”
Needless to say, Ms. Swartz and Ms. Lorenzo are hardly the first people to follow through on a business lunch, cocktail, or cup of coffee. But it’s particularly remarkable these days, when texting someone to tell them you’re working late, you’ve been delayed at an Opening Ceremony sample sale, or the G doesn’t seem to be running, are all perfectly acceptable ways of getting out of a social obligation.
Ms. Swartz noted that there are many ways to “neutralize networking,” her term for stopping a work date before it ever takes place. Besides not emailing the person to finalize a plan, Ms. Swartz said that she sometimes emails a colleague an hour before their agreed-upon time, when it was likely the other person already thought—or hoped—they had been blown off and had already made—or said they made—other plans. Sometimes, she cancels, apologizes profusely, and plans to reschedule—without ever doing so.
“The options are really endless,” said Ms. Swartz, who admitted she’d rather smoke pot with her boyfriend after work than drink with someone she doesn’t know, and who considers herself something of a connoisseur of the after-work engagement blow-off.
Afterwards, Ms. Lorenzo admitted that the best thing about the meeting was that she felt like she got out of having to spend time with Ms. Swartz for another 6 months to a year. “It’s true, I enjoyed my mojito,” she said. “But I wanted another and felt like I couldn’t order it, because she’d tell everyone I was a lush. And honestly, I think Sonya is kind of boring and her work is bad, so I probably won’t hire her to do any work for us anyway. Also, I’m friends with her ex-boyfriend and I’m definitely going to let him know she’s looking a little heavy.”
Ms. Swartz agreed. “Jena’s okay, but I just don’t think we’re going to be good friends,” she said. “Still, I’ll be sure to Facebook friend her in a few days because it will make me look more popular and because that way, my ex-boyfriend, who I know she knows, will see my new picture, which is waaaaaaaay cute.”
