As a social work student I was introduced to the tradition of the Friday lunch time drink. We finished early on Fridays and at lunch time we signed out ODNR (On District Not Returning).What’s more we all drove. Of course not everyone had an alcoholic drink but no one disapproved if you did. And yes we did visit clients in the afternoon. It seems unprofessional now but at the time it seemed a good way to unwind after a busy week a sort of unofficial team meeting. Sometimes the team manager would join us but we enjoyed having conversations we wouldn’t have in are open plan office. These were dedicated enthusiastic staff very sympathetic to the problems their clients faced and prepared to run cares support groups and after school groups outside normal office hours. I can’t imagine that management would find this acceptable today so I wasn’t surprised to hear a report that upheld the dismissal of a member of staff for drinking at lunch time.Blair McPherson former Director of Community services www.blairmcpherson.co.uk
