Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Alcoholics

Two men in their forties were sitting on the bus in the middle of the day, very close to me, keeping a conversation all the passengers nearby could easily hear.

It was all about alcohol.

One had just bought a new supply of beer, and was going home to drink that.

They then talked about going to Vinmonopolet (State Shop where you can buy alcoholic drinks) and what alcohol you can buy there - "Strong and pure stuff".

Then they started to talk about Hjemmebrenning (making alcohol illegally at home) and how once the result of that production had been so bad, the persons drinking it had all vomitted.

"Do you drink every day?" one asked the other.
"No, I have to take a break now and then; otherwise it goes to hell completely", was the answer.
"Also she screams at me if I drink all the time."
(She is the wife or girlfriend, I assume.)
"Well," says the other, "my girlfriend and I have separate apartments, so when I need to drink, I live in my own apartment".

What was so strange , to me, was the fact that the conversation was so public, as if this was a completely normal situation.

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