11 Comments

Gosh, you know what, the whole time I kept thinking, what's so bad about paying for individual cans of beer? And then I got wondering whether I would consider it normal to just take one beer out of a full pack - which I probably wouldn't, since the best beers here in France are sold individually in a bottle anyways. BUT - I do that with milk sometimes. Take one bottle out of a 6 1 liter bottles pack. Does that count? ;) (Sorry, I know I'm totally missing the point with this comment, but you asked!)

Expand full comment
author

MILK! That's fascinating—I don't think I've ever come across that in a pack. (And why I love this game of "who does what across the world.") To be fair, in the original post I didn't emphasize that there are plenty of individual cans available for purchase—that's not what struck me—but rather the custom of also being able to open packaging without reprimand.

Expand full comment

In Australia you definitely cannot open a six pack of beer to buy one. But then again no-one would only drink a single beer - you must buy a slab of 24, carry it home on your singleted shoulder, then drink as many as possible in one session. There is no moderation with alcohol.

Expand full comment

In Portugal, you buy the beers/drink's individually too. It's very common to see a 6 pack of beer, soda, water, etc opened and then you just take how many you want to buy. You can do that at Trader Joe's in Austin too. It's a good way to get a variety of flavors instead of all the same. :) Tara from Vegan Family Adventures

Expand full comment

I might be the only person who isn't surprised by the one-beer phenomenon. I spent 10 years blogging about life in Jamaica and my favorite things to share with my readers were absurdities. 😄

For example, you can walk into a pharmacy and buy ONE pill. Allergies, cold medication, Advil, etc.

At local corner shops you can buy ONE diaper, ONE roll of toilet paper, ONE cigarette, etc. Lord knows how any parent would only need one diaper but still.

My favorite were the local bars. You can buy a whole flask of rum rather than order by the drink. When you purchase the flask they fill it from a large bottle, hand you the flask of rum, a bottle of Coke, and a cup with ice. You can also carry the flask to any bar and get it refilled 😁

Expand full comment

Can definitely buy single cans in England and I used to do it regularly in my 20s when I lived in London and decided to do a big walk around the streets and parks and didn’t want to have to lug about a six-pack in my bag. But I wouldn’t take single one out of a packaged 6-pack but have definitely seen that in shops here, mainly the independent off-licence ones.

Expand full comment

Considering you have a whole shtick about travelling etiquette I’d have thought you could work out that a lot of people (even if not the huge influx of white people) in Costa Rica, and around the world are struggling with income inequality and cost of living and can’t afford a six pack , or a whole pack of something - you have to have money to save money/economise. This division of multipacks, or even individual items (like only taking a piece of Yam rather than the whole thing) happens in countries across the world - particularly in the global south. Scoffing at it feels like a lack of awareness of your own privilege or real life for most people in the place you’re a visitor.

Expand full comment
author
Apr 26, 2023·edited Apr 26, 2023Author

Your point is EXCELLENT - I did sound like a privileged ass. I didn't write this correctly the first time, so I edited to better reflect the spirit of what I meant to say. Sometimes it's hard balancing humor with real-world issues. Alas, I am a peon and shall endeavor to remind myself of this often.

Expand full comment

Omg - such gold. Where to even start….”I turn the air conditioning down to such uninhabitable arctic levels of lunacy.” Or shall we say this fucking ruby red gem… “can you split up a six-pack like a tin-can terrorist”

Your emails are like a holiday in and of themselves, without the bullshit lines, screaming children, and groping TSA agents. For those five minutes (I’m slow as fuck) it’s a vacation. And that is the reason why every time I write I channel the WWAD bracelet on my wrist.

Keep up the ridiculously good sharing.

Expand full comment
author

I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to get a matching bracelet that says "What super generous thing would Dinos comment?!" YA MAKIN' ME BLUSH, D. Thanks for not making me feel like an asshole out here.

Expand full comment

Haha anytime. All it takes is one so we’re not out here alone hoching loogies into the back of the internet. There’s people who write for people to “read their stuff” and then there’s people who write on such a different level that us peons can’t help but ravage the content.

Expand full comment