When It's Time To Relax...
Tuesday, January 10th, 2006If you know me, you know I have an affinity for beer. No martinis, no scotch on the rocks, no whiskey - just beer. Oh, I might down the odd bloody mary occasionally, but it's always right back to the beer. Aside from times when I'm doped to the gills on painkillers, I'll have at least two beers a night - usually more. Some people might say that makes me an alcoholic. I say it's because I just love the taste of beer. Besides, they're gay and should shut the hell up.
But this post isn't about whether or not I'm an alcoholic. It's about whether or not the Dutch are alcoholics. No, really, it's about a bunch of Dutch soldiers who are being deprived of their god-given right to partake in the finest beverage ever concocted from smooshed-up grain.
It seems Dutch troops, deployed to Pakistan to help with earthquake aid, have been denied beer by their superiors, stating that "alcohol was banned in this country or else very difficult to get hold of". Imagine the soldier's surprise upon discovering "...the Spanish drive around with cars full of Heineken ... and the English laugh at us when they show up at our campfire drunk".
A Dutch defense ministry spokesman was quoted as saying "Tens of thousands of people lost their lives in the earthquake and hundreds of thousands lost everything they had. Going without alcohol is a small sacrifice toward a very good cause."
A very noble effort toward "putting it into perspective", for sure, but I disagree. These grunts didn't volunteer to travel to this third-world toilet and pull these people out of a hole. They were ordered to - it's their job. And, like any good grunt, they're doing they're damn job. Come Miller Time, I don't think it's too much to ask to let 'em have a coupla beers. The Spanish seem to have plenty, and they could take turns beating up the English. Now that's globalization.
For the record, only Muslims in Pakistan are forbidden from consuming alcohol. Non-muslims may get as embarrassingly drunk as they like.
But this post isn't about whether or not I'm an alcoholic. It's about whether or not the Dutch are alcoholics. No, really, it's about a bunch of Dutch soldiers who are being deprived of their god-given right to partake in the finest beverage ever concocted from smooshed-up grain.
It seems Dutch troops, deployed to Pakistan to help with earthquake aid, have been denied beer by their superiors, stating that "alcohol was banned in this country or else very difficult to get hold of". Imagine the soldier's surprise upon discovering "...the Spanish drive around with cars full of Heineken ... and the English laugh at us when they show up at our campfire drunk".
A Dutch defense ministry spokesman was quoted as saying "Tens of thousands of people lost their lives in the earthquake and hundreds of thousands lost everything they had. Going without alcohol is a small sacrifice toward a very good cause."
A very noble effort toward "putting it into perspective", for sure, but I disagree. These grunts didn't volunteer to travel to this third-world toilet and pull these people out of a hole. They were ordered to - it's their job. And, like any good grunt, they're doing they're damn job. Come Miller Time, I don't think it's too much to ask to let 'em have a coupla beers. The Spanish seem to have plenty, and they could take turns beating up the English. Now that's globalization.
For the record, only Muslims in Pakistan are forbidden from consuming alcohol. Non-muslims may get as embarrassingly drunk as they like.
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