I wanted to give this article 3,000 claps. I am so very painfully introverted. I have learned how to make it work in a group setting when I need to, but work bonding happens for me in groups of 1-3. I am completely overwhelmed when it's more than that. Luckily, I'm an accountant, and my company understands that a lot of us are introverted. So while they do plan these activities, nobody really says anything to you if you don't participate. That's been hugely helpful and occasionally I have stepped out of my comfort zone to join in when it sounded like something I might enjoy.

But I've also been at companies who did A LOT of drinking as their "social" activity. I don't drink. So again, a forced bonding experience in which I'm completely out of my element, faking a smile, but counting down the minutes until I can leave.

Please can we just leave our workplace to do the spontaneous bonding that inevitably happens when humans are placed in the same general vicinity for a long enough period??

Thank you for writing this. I have never thought to articulate just how awful it is lol.