I Love Beer

When I was a travel agent, I always gave a gift to clients booking a vacation package or cruise. The cruise lines would arrange something, like flowers in the cabin, or a bottle of wine at dinner with my compliments. There was a little gift shop in the same shopping center as the travel agency, and they had the most wonderful assortment of picture frames and albums, and I often chose one of those and gave that to the client when he or she picked up travel documents. That was back in the day where you actually needed paper documents, and when people actually put photographs in albums. I did it mostly because I needed to keep my costs down, and a nice $20 photo album was better than giving the cruise line $40 for a $5 bottle of wine.

Sometimes clients would bring me back a gift, or send me flowers, but not often. I remember one pair of elderly sisters who were going on an escorted tour of New Zealand, one of the most expensive vacations I ever sold. When they returned, they both came in to see me and told me how wonderful their trip was, and how wonderful I was for suggesting that particular tour company. With great flourish, they presented me with a bag. It was filled with the little jars of jellies and preserves from their breakfast table. They were so pleased with themselves, and one of them said, "None of them have been opened."

It used to be that I thought I didn't like beer. The only beer I had tasted was Bud or Rolling Rock and I thought it was icky, so I never explored the world of beer. Also, I was convinced that beer makes you fat, and I didn't want that. A client and his wife were traveling to Germany for Oktoberfest, and when he picked up his documents, he asked me if I liked beer, and I said I didn't care for any of the beers I had tasted. He said, "I'll bring you back a bottle of wine. Riesling." And he did, and I loved it, and to this day, my favorite white wine is Riesling, or Moscato, which is very similar, at least in Susan's mind. It was a lovely way for him to show his appreciation.

Last year, my younger son and I took a trip to Nantucket Island, and he introduced me to the world of craft beers. He has a good deal of knowledge about them, and we went to a brewery and I learned what a flight is, and we did some beer tasting. The brewery was within walking distance of where we stayed, so it was the perfect way to spend an afternoon. The people there were impressed that we were from San Diego, because San Diego is well known for its craft beers.

So. Guess what? I like beer. Correction. I love beer. I just didn't know it because I had never had anything good. The other evening, my roommate and I went out for a snack and the bartender recommended Sculpin IPA, which is made by Ballast Point, a local brewery. So we split one. Then we ordered another one, and split it. Which means Susan had an entire beer. It was yummy, and the perfect beverage to have with a veggie wrap. I like beer. I love beer. It's funny that it took me 53 years to discover that. I wonder what else I have been missing out on, just because I never had the good stuff.

Susan

I have not received any remuneration for my endorsement.