Kaptin,
I agree with you. A good team, not a social chat group, performs better than a bad team.
I flew a 45 minutes stretch just yesterday with a cabin chief that had the ability to upset a crew of five within a few minutes. Where with a "normal" crew there would have been ample time to complete the service I now found and attitude where everyone just barely did his own work, and stretched it so there was no time to assist anyone else with her/his task. Eventually the service had to be cut short, to the annoyance of some SLC, and we had to extend the approach for about ten minutes. My next stretch was with someone with an attitude not unlike our beloved Flaps40. The difference was amazing!!
Falcon, on shorthaul flights there is a certain amount of work to be done. There is no time for idle chat, unless this work is done. If the atmosphere in the team is good there is time after the last flight in the nearest bar to "spend the rest of the day discussing individuals experiences, problems, relationships".
As "disrupting a social life" is concerned. That is very efficiently achieved by crew dispatch. Flying with an other F/O twice a week and a new load of stews twice a day really avoids any problems in this respect.
There is really nothing as enjoyable as to fly around with a good team. No bad weather, technical malfunctions, raging pax, stupid company regulations, hours of slotdelays or even a flight to malpensa can disrupt such a team.
Sq