I Now Know How Santa Feels

"SVTyler" (svtyler) 09/04/2015 at 18:23 • Filed to: None

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Today I dropped this off at my mechanics’ place as a thank-you gift for their years of honesty and good work on our family’s cars. Needless to say they were appreciative. Thanks to everyone for the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! a few weeks ago, turns out the only store in town had a lot less selection that I’d anticipated so I ended up with what you see here (2 cases of regular Budweiser, 1 of Bud Light, and 1 12-pack each of Fat Tire and Sams Adams) and hoping quantity over quality would rule the day. Figure free beer is good beer anyways, though I do kind of regret not heading a town over and seeing what other stores had.

Next year, perhaps...

jkm7680 > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 18:26

3

Beer Santa is best Santa.

$kaycog > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 18:29

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Awesome gesture!

Takuro Spirit > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 18:30

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Free Beer is Best Beer.

SVTyler > $kaycog 09/04/2015 at 18:31

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Thank you! They really deserve it with how well they’ve treated us over the years.

RallyWrench > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 18:33

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I said it before, you’re a good man. Little gestures like this mean a lot.

Svend > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 18:33

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I take it they don’t like beer then. Just Kidding.

Very nice gesture fella. Just make sure they aren’t drinking them while working on your family’s cars.

SVTyler > Svend 09/04/2015 at 18:39

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You laugh but the liquor store in my town had nothing but Corona, Coors, Natty Light, Miller Light and a few craft beers in addition to what I bought :| Dudes appreciated it anyways so it’s all good, knowing them they’ll finish it all off over the weekend lol.

$kaycog > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 18:46

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Be assured that they’ll always treat you well.

Svend > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 18:47

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I was pullin ya tail fella.

Where is it you live?

I’m partial to a bottle of Corona (or several) over the lagers that most places have on tap here. Lager being cheaper than stouts, ales and bitters.

Birddog > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 18:48

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Suddenly, I want to be your Mechanic in a bad way.

Good on you for “taking care” of your regular guy!

SVTyler > Svend 09/04/2015 at 18:56

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Small town in the middle of Indiana, lady working at the store said that Budweiser’s the most popular beer they sell so that should tell you about the kind of people who live around here. And that’s interesting you like Corona so much, I met a few Englishmen while I was in France and they did nothing but take the piss out of me and my American friend for our ‘crap’ beer, Corona especially lol.

SVTyler > Birddog 09/04/2015 at 19:04

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Position is filled, sorry bro :) Figure they’d deserve a something for helping out my family so much, and what greater gift is there than copious amounts of alcohol.

Sam > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 19:14

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I’d say that’ll get you good work for a few years more.

Svend > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 19:23

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A few student friends used to go out and drink cheap Carling lager and as we were buying rounds I just put up with it rather than mix them till one night I had about nine pints of Carling and I felt bloated. We went to a bar that didn’t have any lager on tap and the cheapest was bottles of Corona, after three I felt much better and where ever we went onto the rest of the night I made sure they had bottles of Corona even if my friends drinking gassy pi55 water.

I’m a stout and ale drinker but on a nice warm day a cold Corona with a slice of lime in the neck is just perfect.

You’ll find half of any tourists from another country are dicks and best to be left alone and ignored the rest more than make up for the others though and are pretty top class people to be with.

SVTyler > Svend 09/04/2015 at 19:37

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Nine pints??? No wonder you felt sick haha. Nah, the English guys weren’t being serious at all about it, just having a good-natured laugh at our expense. We met them at a music festival and ended up hanging out with them for the entire four days; quality dudes with great hearts and awesome senses of humor, but man did they rag on the Americans the whole time lol.

Svend > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 20:11

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Glad to hear it. We all rag on each other. I’m Cumbrian and we rag on our neighbours in Northumbria, we English rag on the Scottish and Welsh and vice versa. It’s playful banter.

Nine pints was pretty much an average night. It’s when you drink so much that you loose the swallow reflex the next day that counts (was my 23rd birthday in Alcudia, Spain).

Most I’ve done is 22 pints of Guinness and half a 70cl bottle of whiskey and still be sober. Got home to a mate’s house with two Japanese girls at 4am and I was up and went for a sandwich at 11am from the corner shop. I was 20 then. Couldn’t do it now at 35 though.

Anon > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 20:40

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I was going to give you shit for bud light but free beer is the best beer!

XJDano > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 23:09

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Corona is a Mexican beer.

SVTyler > Svend 09/04/2015 at 23:12

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I loved that you guys (Scots, Ozzies, Welsh, English etc.) can do that with each other; people in America seem so easily offended by the smallest things so it was refreshing to go over there and laugh at the absurdity of all kinds of messed-up stuff. It was honestly the most fun four days I’ve ever had.

And you need to be examined by medical science or something, that amount of alcohol is impressive man.

XJDano > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 23:21

1

This means a lot to those guys. This is also something they won’t forget next time you come in.

Most of the working class will accept any free beers just because free.

I have cooked deer steaks at my mechanics before, that was a bit before it was they closed right at 6 and stayed late drinking beers.

You done good.

Svend > SVTyler 09/04/2015 at 23:34

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I think it’s something we share with generally all the English speaking world, it’s a part of us, we are self deprecating and can take it on the chin from others, if however there is any malice in it then that gets our backs up and we come out punching but on the whole English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, Aussie, Kiwi, Canadian, etc... acknowledge we ourselves and our countries aren’t perfect but they are who we are and where were from and can laugh about it.

As a general rule I’ve learned as a Brit not to discuss a few things with your fellow countrymen (other than on here) (ie war, politics, military, WW1, WW2, Vietnam, racism, abortion, religion, gun control, slavery, whether the Ford GT40 was British or American, comparing American cars to anyone elses in a less than favourable manner, etc... ).

We also like to laugh at stuff that many will see as inappropriate such as death, war, etc... I think it’s because if you laugh at something it dehumanises what it was that happened and if you can laugh at it, you can’t be scared of it. Like during WW2 people sang ‘Hitler has only got one ball, Goering has two but very small, Himler has something similar but Goebbels has no balls at all’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNl51wW01ZE

SVTyler > XJDano 09/05/2015 at 00:33

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That’s a really cool thing of you to do for them man. Maybe I’ll steal your idea for the next time I feel like thanking them :) I could definitely tell they appreciated the thought that went into it as well as the gift itself; I imagine being a mechanic is such a thankless job so anything to make their day or their weekend better is worth it to me.

SVTyler > Svend 09/05/2015 at 00:54

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I wish we Americans were more like the rest of the Anglosphere in that regard, especially on in regards to world politics; not to go on a tangent obviously, but even at home we can’t objectively talk about or criticize or unfavorably compare our country to other nations (for example, how Finland’s education system or France’s national healthcare system are objectively better than ours) without getting called anti-American or a socialist or some other political slur because we as a national are so unique and superior and infallible (not that I agree with American exceptionalism at all, however much it permeates our national worldview). God forbid any foreigner offers their opinion either, as anyone who objects to our attitudes or views are wrong and stupid and beneath us and they just don’t understand because they’re not from here.

That’s why I enjoyed talking to the people I met over there so much. We didn’t feel like we had to censor ourselves or feel out everyone else’s opinion beforehand, it was just honest and open discussions about everything from gun laws and abortion to religion and healthcare, and we could freely criticize and admit how ridiculous our country is without getting into a shouting match and being labeled a traitor or having to end the conversation early to avoid all that.

I think it’s because if you laugh at something it dehumanises what it was that happened and if you can laugh at it, you can’t be scared of it

I definitely agree with that. There are some things in the world that are just absurd in how awful they are that you either need to laugh or cry to keep your sanity. I prefer laughing myself, so dark humor and the like is a great way to cope with just how messed up our world actually is (which is why I like British comedy with how satirical and weird it is). Life’s too short to take it seriously.

Svend > SVTyler 09/05/2015 at 01:43

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Your more than welcome back this side of the pond anytime you wish fella.

The U.S. is still quite young in regards to other nations and I guess still finding it’s feet and it’s place. It’s a vast expanse of land with so many different cultures and ways of thinking going on at the same time only the rest of the world is changing so fast it can’t come to any conclusions on itself compared to older nations who had time to find who they are and I think the U.S. has gone into defence mode to protect itself while it does so but at the same time having to deal with what else in the world is happening.

The U.K. isn’t what it used to be on a global scale and I think in the most part we’re thankful for it but also feel pressured by other nations to stand with them or take a more proactive approach.

The empire has gone but what is left is a commonwealth of nations who all want to be together voluntarily with a common and shared goal of a better world from it’s realms, republics and monarchies from the Commonwealths largest country Canada, it’s mostly densely populated country India to it’s smallest member country Nauru. We have some family squabbles but a family of 53 equal countries will do that.

SVTyler > Svend 09/05/2015 at 19:04

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I didn’t realize the commonwealth included 53 countries, that’s cool you guys have a relationship with so many other nations.

I definitely agree that we’re a very young country relative to many of the other world powers, so in addition to establishing a national identity it seems like we feel the need to prove ourselves to the rest of the world and fill a role on the global stage. Of course that comes across as imperialistic to a lot of other countries, though that’s neither here nor there.

The empire has gone but what is left is a commonwealth of nations who all want to be together voluntarily with a common and shared goal of a better world

I love the idea of a commonwealth, a bunch of allies you can call on to help you do more than you could by yourself. Seems like too much of the world, be it people or their countries, have an us. vs. them mentality that stifles progress because we’re so busy squabbling amongst ourselves. I love traveling for that reason; going to foreign places and meeting people totally opens your worldview and makes you realize just how ridiculous our differences are in the grand scheme of things. We should be citizens of the world, not of our own countries, and it’s a shame most people will never feel that way.

I actually might be in England sometime next summer, if only for a week or so. We’ll have to organize an Oppo meetup if that’s the case.

Svend > SVTyler 09/05/2015 at 20:28

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Ye’, some of the countries are large like Canada, India, Australia and New Zealand and some are really small like St. Kitts and Nevis, Vanuata, Naura and some are simply a group of very small islands like The Falkland Islands. But we have a common call to help. There are only three former colonies that aren’t in it, the Republic of Ireland, the United States and I can’t recall the other one.

It’s not the oldest by far. We have a treaty of friendship with Portugal fron circa 1400. The oldest treaty in the world.

America has a commonwealth of states and countries though such as Puerto Rico and Guam (though against common understanding, Diego Garcia is British, it’s a BIOT ‘British Indian Ocean Territory).

A meet up sounds cool.