Thursday, August 07, 2008

BEER! Now in convienent 5, 11, and 23 pack containers!

Perhaps I am telling on myself here, but have you ever had a road beer?

You know. It's payday and you have been working in the summer sun all week. You stop off on your way home or out to a friend's place and pick up some beer to take with you. You set it on the seat next to you and start on your merry way, but there is something peculiar about this beer.

It calls to you.

You try to ignore it and concentrate on your driving, and yet you can't help glancing over to see the cool beads of moisture sliding down the side and creating small rings of wet on your upolstery. You know it is against the law to drink one of these while driving, or to even have a open one in the car with you. But it is hot and dry, and the lure is too strong, and you crack one and sip it with a satisfaction, and find yourself much more at ease as you can pay more attention to the road. This is a road beer.

This should never be confused with a "one for the road" beers. Those are just dangerous and stupid. In no way am I endorsing drunken driving, that kills people. But in my mind, covering a mile and a half of empty road at 30 mph in broad daylight with two sips of beer is a forgivable offence.

Flannery used to kid me when we were first married how I would always come home with a five pack, an eleven pack, or a 23er for the weekend. "You damn fool," she would chide, and she was right. No reasonable, responsible adult would engage in this sort of behavior. But I defended my position with the fact that all of the roads I traveled home were one lane and dirt, it was pretty easy to spot the sheriff coming.

And besides, it called to me so sweetly.

Doc

9 comments:

  1. Oh the stories I could tell of my misguided youth spent drinking and driving! I finally wised up and decided that I was being an idiot.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am surprised I am alive with the amount of drinking we did as teenagers. We thought nothing of getting into a car after a night at the park. Makes me cringe now when I think about it.

    Doc, I am such a sissie-la-la now. I will not have so much as a sip and get behind the wheel.

    Not to say I havent had one while someone else was driving LOL.

    peace
    #2

    ReplyDelete
  3. I wonder if the guy who killed my uncle and my cousin had a similar story before he went to prison.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Elizabeth, I don't by any means Doc is promoting drinking and driving.

    #1

    ReplyDelete
  5. Doc, I'm letting you and Ms. Elizabeth fight this one out yourselves (she's ornry! Watch out for her Gavel of Justice!!)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Skyler's Dad- I'd love to hear a few of those stories!

    #2- You are not a sissie-la-la! You just wised up.

    #1- You're right. I'm not.

    Cap'n Ergo- There is no fight.

    Elizabeth- I'm sorry for your loss.

    Doc

    ReplyDelete
  7. Doc,

    You don't need to apologize. Besides, I've told you about my uncle and my cousin before.

    Cap'n,

    No, there is no fight. However, I felt embarrassed that Doc wrote this piece with a romantic tone. Drinking beer (not even being drunk) and having an open alcoholic container is illegal for a reason. It's a start that can easily lead to a bad ending. I've been with him when he's done this and I've found it very upsetting.

    #1,

    No offense, but I'm one of Doc's best friends and it's not necessary for someone who doesn't know either one of us personally to tell me what he means. I know what he means.

    Doc,

    I love you and remember, I would never tie you to a tree. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Somebody opened one too many road beers and ruined it for the rest of us.

    The problem is not drinking and driving, the problem is being impaired and driving. There is a difference.

    ReplyDelete

Write your beer-fueled ravings here...