Drinking with work colleagues is one of life's pleasures. While you may often have little in common beyond work, for most people work consumes large parts of their waking hours and for an unfortunate few, a significant part of their sleeping ones as well. While a partner or friend may be mildly sympathetic to the vicissitudes of office life they will soon get bored listening to them. Work colleagues, however, will go blow by blow through every minute detail of what happens in the office and what every email, conversation and meeting really means.