Reply #12: My dad was a grad school professor

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And he kept a bottle in his office and often shared a drink late in the day with a colleague or even a student (talking grad students who were all of drinking age). He wasn't the only one who did so and no one blinked an eye at it. Also, my wife works for non-profit environmental group and they've been known to kick back at the end of the day on a Friday and have beer in the office.

Admittedly, that's different than a worker on an assembly line cracking open a cold one inside the factory at the end of the day, which almost certainly would not be condoned.

I'm not sure where the line between "elites" and "non-elites" falls, but I'm pretty sure that if having a drink at the end of the day or week in your office makes you part of the elite, then there are more elites out there than I think you realize.