Harry Caray and Old-Fashioned Drinking

I always think back to a story about the workers at Carlsberg striking over beer limits: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/mone...erg-beer-drinking-limit_N.htm?POE=click-refer
This article doesn't get into specifics, but I believe the old limit was unofficially 8 beers a day.

 

I see nothing wrong with daydrinking so long as it doesn't always lead into afternoon-drinking, evening-drinking, and night-drinking. Drink whenever you want, just don't drink 12 per day and call it a "session" as if that's distinct from frat bros binge-drinking. It isn't.

 

Q: Why do you have to take two Baptists with you when you go fishing?

A: Because if you take just one, he'll drink all your beer.

Cheers!

 

This!

Lots of people need to travel a whole lot more.

 

CO's beer culture (disregarding styles) is probably the closest I've seen to Europe in terms of acceptability. At just about every brewery in town, even the ones with no food, you'll find people drinking with their young kids around. You don't really see anyone tying one on at 9AM with their infants, but you will see people showing up as early as 11 and it isn't assumed that anyone has a problem or that they're going to keep pounding cheap pints until nightfall.
Most places have board games and sodas for the kids. Breweries really can be the heart and soul of a neighborhood.
Places like Dry Dock, DBC, the Rockyard, the Bull & Bush, Mountain Sun, and Copper Kettle really do feel like they've captured their audience the way a place like a Bavarian bierhall or English Pub has. I've seen other places that have that vibe, like Portland, but I'm not sure I've seen it as widespread as it is here.

 

Definitely. My hometown had many German immigrants and the church I grew up in originated in Germany. It still held Christmas and Easter services auf Deutsch when I was a kid. My father told me once when they got a new minister, they held a pot luck dinner to welcome him. When he arrived and surveyed the food, he said, "Where's the beer?" When he was told they didn't have any, he abruptly left. After that, they made sure any church meals included beer. Part of the culture.

 

The "business expenses" aspect is the best part of this story, for me. What a legend.

I'll never forget when my mom explained to me why Harry didn't call games into the late innings... Like, whoa, he really was serious when he said "Hey, Bud man!"

 

"I was in love with a beautiful blonde once. She drove me to drink. That's the one thing I am indebted to her for."

Growing up in a melting pot of European immigrants, Germans and Sicilians mostly, beer and wine were served with most every meal. I honestly can't remember any drunks. Everyone worked for a living. And partied for fun. Those were some good years.

 

"I only drink one beer on Saturday, taking one week off a month and one month of a year" - a fairly close approximation of a comment I saw a while back

 

i only knew him as a cubs announcer but my old man has told me about his days with the white sox when he'd go on and on about falstaff beer and be hammered during broadcasts

 

Last weekend my friends and I drank all afternoon in our city's biggest park, next to a group of kids playing rugby. Empty beer bottles lying around, cigarette butts lying around, probably five meters from the kids' game. No one said anything. There were no judgemental looks. Just some people drinking beer and some kids playing rugby.
Imagine that happening in the US?
Maybe it would fly on the fourth of July, but that's about it.
Having that kind of openness regarding alcohol makes it just a part of life, as something to be enjoyed(in relative moderation) like everything else.

 

I stopped in for a beer at a Coffee Joint/Bar in Bentonville, AR a couple of days ago. I ordered a Barley Wine I'd never seen & it was very foamy; I guessed out loud that was the first pour of the day for that beer. The Bartender told me straight up; most people would never be caught drinking before 530 PM there. He did mention the bartenders were usually the exception to this rule. I happily explained that between my prior military experience & Catholic/Lutheran lineage I thought this smacked of dumbassery & we all had a good laugh...

 

If I was some bigwig cruising around in limos doing hand shake business with other bigwigs every day then I might have an expense report like that too, hehe. I'm not. I'm also in a line of work where alcohol cannot be tolerated - can be terminated if I even have any on the property. But that is for good reason. Everyone at work knows I'm into "this beer thing" and I suppose many think I'm an alcoholic. These bible belters are surprised when I tell them I drink 3-6 beers a week. Sometimes folks in these parts raise an eyebrow when I'm having a cerveza at a Mexican restaurant with my daughter sitting across from me. Lighten up, 'Merica. It's just a beer and I'm a man that knows how to drink. It's not like I'm freakin' shoenice ovah heah!

 

Considering the Cubs' performance over the years...I think THEY were imbibing along with Ol' Harry...