Happy hours are not necessarily happy nor do they last for an hour, but they have become a part of the ritual of the office worker and businessman.
On weekdays in pubs and bars throughout America, there is the late afternoon happy hour. The time may vary from place to place, but usually it is held from four to seven. After the workday is finished, office workers in larger cities and small town take a relaxing pause and do not go directly home to the hearth. They head off instead for the nearest bar or pub to be with friends, coworkers and colleagues. Within minutes the pub is filled to capacity with businessmen and secretaries, payroll clerks and stock executives. They gather around the bar like birds around a fountain or forest animals around a watering hole and gossip about the intrigues of office life or matters more personal. This is their oasis; the place to unwind from the day's stress at the office.

At these happy hours, social binding occurs between people who share the same workplace or similar professions. They may gossip about each other or talk about a planned project that has yet to meet a deadline. In this sense, these places become extensions of the workplace and may constitute a good portion of one's social life.
These happy hours are those late afternoon chances to unwind after work and relax before returning home. Conversations which may begin quietly and with reserve, rise gradually from a chatter to a roar. The oasis quickly fills up with smoke. Coarse laughter may cackle in the air as a way to diffuse the tensions of the day. The festive mood, heightened by the feeling of relief, competes with a TV broadcasting the latest update of CNN evening news or a sports game already in progress.

The price of drinks at this time are most often reduced. They are usually half-priced, and some pubs even offer free hors d'oeuvres which are placed on the counter for the complementary picking. Cheaper places may only serve popcorn, potato chips and cheese with crackers. Places of higher quality and favored by the richer clientele may go so far as to present a smorgasbord of Swedish meatballs, chicken wings, miniature franks and deviled eggs.

When a happy hour draws to an end, the crowd quietly disperses in dribs and drabs like a diaspora in a biblical desert going off to a domestic land of milk and honey.

When it is finally over, the cost of drinks goes up to full price and the light snacks are removed to make room for the evening customers. All that remains is a heavy layer of smoke in the air and the slurred speech of remnants who prefer to remain.
Recently, however, some places have discontinued the happy hour feeling that it encourages alcoholic abuse rather than social drinking and is a contributing factor for motorists who unwisely choose to drink and drive