Will Work for Beer

I read a news story twice if find it unbelievable, then I bounce it off of someone else; i.e., can this be real? Until today, the last such news was the coverage of Toronto’s mayor Ford’s second public gaffe—the one after he publicly admitted he was too drunk to remember doing cocaine. Today, I was awakened by the front page of the New York Times report that in the Netherlands there are government work programs that pay alcoholics in beer. Okay, we use Methadone to treat opioid addiction, so I get the beer for alcoholic connection.

What got me was the amount of beer that can be earned in a day: a six pack which can be consumed during breaks on the job (picking up trash)—no boozing in public. A day’s pay also includes ten euros and some chewing tobacco. I understand why participants don’t miss work.