Water Cooler Culture

What is the deal with these expressions about "around the water cooler tomorrow," people will be talking about LOST or whatever. The water cooler? IS that something that people really frequent? Do people hydrate using only the provided 4 oz. Dixie cups at a time? Don't they go fill up their plastic bottle, at most twice a day, and drink water at their desks out of that? Not that I'm advocating even less social contact for these poor souls. To the contrary, the point I want to make in this post is: Are people's work environments so slavish and devoid of humanity that they only opportunity they have to socially interact with eachother is when they cross paths at the water cooler? I work in a corporate enviroment now, albeit a creative one, but still, I feel compelled to not come in with shorts a t shirt and flip flops most of the time, there is no refidgerator stocked with snacks and sodas and beer, (which was a shock at 1st), we have a cubicle garden for the assistants, we don't have scooters to ride around on, there's no ipod playing over the speakers, (there are no office-wide speakers.)

Yet should I want to talk to a co-worker about what happened on Heroes last night, which I never do, or say I want to show Jerome something on Youtube, I just walk into his room and say, lemme show you something.

In these enviroments where these people apparently can only socially interact at the water cooler, why can't they just go hang out in eachother's office? If the boss catches them there they're busted but if they're at the water cooler, fair game? Look at porn, play practical jokes, whatever? The water cooler is the Holland of the office?