An Irishman moves into a tiny village in County Kerry,
walks into the pub and promptly orders three beers.
The bartender raises his eyebrows, but serves the man
three beers, which he drinks quietly at a table, alone.
An hour later, the man has finished the three beers
and orders three more.
This happens yet again. The next evening the man
again orders and drinks three beers at a time, several
times.
Soon the entire town is whispering about the "Man Who
Orders Three Beers."
Finally, a week later, the bartender broaches the
subject on behalf of the town. "I don’t mean to pry,
but folks around here are wondering why you always
order three beers?"
"Tis odd, isn’t it?" the man replies, "You see, I have
two brothers, and one went to America, and the other
to Australia. We promised each other that we would
always order an extra two beers whenever we drank as a
way of keeping up the family bond."
The bartender and the whole town were pleased with
this answer, and soon the "Man Who Orders Three Beers"
became a local celebrity and source of pride to the
village, even to the extent that out-of-towners would
come to watch him drink.
Then, one day, the man comes in and orders only two
beers.
The bartender pours them with a heavy heart. This
continues for the rest of the evening: he orders only
two beers. The word flies around town. Prayers are
offered for the soul of one of the brothers.
The next day, the bartender says to the man, "Folks
around here, me first of all, want to offer
condolences to you for the death of your brother. You
know-the two beers and all...."
The man ponders this for a moment, then replies,
"You’ll be happy to hear that my two brothers are
alive and well. It’s just that I, myself, have
decided to give up drinking for Lent.
Joseph J Swartz "La Politique" Feisty
- 16 years, 1 month, 15 days ago
