I know you think it doesn't, but I think you're wrong. I think this "business shouldn't happen in bars" talk is used by people to disqualify others. "Forget about fixing sexual harassment. Fix business happening in bars, first."

OK, I don't know what belorn had in mind when he asked his question. But I know what I have in mind, and it has nothing to do with disqualifying concerns about sexual harassment and everything to do with the fact that I don't drink alcohol and really don't understand drinking culture.

So, with that established: Why do people make critical business decisions in bars?

For at least two big reasons:

* A social outing lets people pretend to be friends, and to act like friends, while skipping the months and years of effort it takes to actually become friends. It's an "act the part, be the part" trick.

* Intoxicants create a polite fiction that allows people to be direct and blunt in a way they can't in a formal business setting, which expedites dealmaking.