THEY'RE NOT??????!!!!!!!!!

No, Ken. I know. I didn't believe it either.

We shall have to take matters into our own hands.

The managers who don't stock it shall be tossed into volcanoes.

Seriously. This calls for a revolution. Thank goodness California's got the voter initiative. I will begin gathering signatures tonight.

I'd say something witty, but the very idea is simply too upsetting.

LOL! Yesh! A pet peeve of mine too. And beileve it or not, even here in Thailand where the Brits outnumber the Yanks, it is not automatic.

To make matters worse, if I am in a place where the waitstaff speaks only Thai and I ask for nahm som or vinegar (no specific Thai for "malt vinegar"), I may get orange juice, if the waitress is clueless about deep fried cod. Why? Because som in Thai means orange, or tart/sour! Then one has to decide whether to try to explain further (and let the fish get cold) or just nod and smile and eat the fish plain and drink the orange juice...

Ahhh, the pains we expats live through LOL!

Bastards.

That's just as bad as this place here in Eugene, the Rose & Thistle, that serves fish & chips, but doesn't serve beer. To quote PJ O'Rourke, "What the fuck? I mean really, what the fucking fuck?" Who in hell has fish & chips without a pint? It's unnatural.

My god. I mean, holy fucking crap. Please, tell me at least that they served malt vinegar. Really. I don't think I would survive the day if they didn't at least have that much.

Emily,

I can't tell you what they do or don't serve beyond fish, chips, and NOT beer, because as soon as I called and found out about the NOT beer part, I committed myself to NOT eating there.

You did the right thing, Brian.

Thank you. If we let ourselves eat Fish & Chips without beer and malt vinegar, the terrorists have won.

Truly. A baby Jesus would cry. And God would kill kittens.

And puppies.

Brian has obviously never been to Arkansas, because in over half of the counties in the state here, including the one I live in, you can't get alcohol -- even with EyeTALyun food.

And that ain't right. . .

No, I've never had that distinct... honor... Thanks for warning me off before I made that mistake.

The only thing weird about Oregon law when it comes to serving food and alcohol is the requirement that if you serve booze, you MUST serve hot food until at least 10 PM.

Yeah - I was born in a semi-dry county in Alabama. My dad said you couldn't drink alcohol in any public establishments. Stupid.

In situations like this I always ask "What would Jack say." and his response is: "Screw those bastards, lets go over to Jake's Crab Shack and have some Snapper soup (with Malt Vinegar) and a great tasting Manhatan to warm those bones after a long day fishing off the Cape." (Cape May, NJ that is.)

Yes, oh yes! I'm 100% behind getting this made law.

My fat neighbour carries her own.