Doctors, nurses, binmen, warehouse operatives, factory workers... I'll bet all of them at some stage or another had breaks where they socialised with their colleague and I'd be amazed if there weren't plenty of businesses where the owners didn't bring in a crate of beer as a thank you for their staff to enjoy at the end of a shift. I was a stickler for the rules while they were in place, but even I wouldn't have begrudged people who had to keep going to work this small comfort.
The difference is that none of the people you mention made the rules or told us to follow them with the threat of a ten grand fine if we didn't. That's the difference.