Everybody's Working on the Weekend

Well, not everybody. Just 5 people from work and two freelancers the company hired. We went up to the sleepy state of Delaware to film some instructional videos. Our first night there I witnessed some - in my opinion - disturbing behavior by my colleagues. It was our first night in town and the whole crew plus the client went out to dinner - where many a drink was had - then off to a bar where the client, 3 different managers, and the rest of the production crew drank themselves stupid. So stupid that the client and our business manager passed out on the bar. Two other company managers were trashed and the rest of the production crew was either drunk or well on their way to being so. I hope I'm the pot calling the kettle black - I drink both at dinner and at the bar however I was at no point drunk.

All this made me really, really mad at how unprofessional this was. We'd just arrived into town, had yet to shoot a single frame of footage, and everyone is toasted at 11:00 pm with a 7:00 am "call" (production-speak for a predetermined time when we leave for our destination - i.e. the location). Typically this level of intoxication is reserved for the last night in town - not the first. Several times I mentioned to different managers that everyone is drunk and we should go before it gets too late. All of them simply brushed me off and told me not to worry about it. Well maybe someone should have listened to me since we were over two hours late arriving at our location the next day. Half of the crew was still drunk and everyone had a hang over. But maybe it didn't matter, since everyone that I worked with gave a 100% effort through out the day.

What made me so mad is that the same managers mentioned above are so strict about certain company policies yet lack any sense of proper and professional judgment when they are out of town and on the clock. I've seen this type of behavior before at other shoots and in other locations. And I despise them for it. They've been made managers and yet they act like 18 year olds at a keg party when they should be setting the example.

Anyone who is interested in responding please do because I'm curious about what others think of this situation. Has anyone found themselves in a similar situation? By similar, I mean that you were both frustrated and embarrassed by a manager's unprofessional behavior? Does professionalism really matter when the client has passed out on the bar? Is it okay to sweep any and all proprieties under the rung by simply declaring 'what happened out of town stays out of the office' (i.e. don't talk about it to anyone at the office)? Is my outrage unjustified since everyone was able to work through their hangovers and get the job done - therefore since there was no harm to the work was there no foul?