No More Red Beer

When I was a kid, one of my Dad’s favorite nighttime beverages was Red Beer. I’m sure on more than one occasion, he employed one of us kids to make it for him. It’s easy to do, simply pour a glass half full (or more) with beer then top it off with tomato juice.

Thinking about it now, it’s a drink that doesn’t make much sense and I don’t think I would ever dare partake as an adult (unless in a moment of severely blurred judgment, perhaps a failed attempt at the hair of the dog). But at the time, it seemed like a normal and acceptable thing to drink.

I imagine in a different place or a different household, they may have mixed the same ingredients and called it something else. The Food Network has a recipe for a Spicy Red Beer, but it’s really more like a Bloody Mary. In Mexico, maybe they call it a Bloody Sunrise. In France, maybe a Bier Royale? But in my household it was known as a Red Beer.

Whatever you name it, looking back, the drink doesn’t make sense. Mixing beer? With tomato juice? But I suppose then, like now, I’ve learned to accept many things in life that don’t make much sense, but just are.

Working in the news, it’s easy to get jaded. “Another person was just shot dead in the Bayview? That’s not news.” (That’s a direct quote to me from an on-air host of the ABC Radio station in San Francisco.) It is what it is, I guess. Another black person killed. Another Red Beer.

This week was particularly fruitful, if you’re thirsty for Red Beer. About 80 people were killed in a suicide bombing in Pakistan on Friday. The Pakistani Taliban took credit for the attack, saying it was in retaliation for the death of Osama Bin Laden. But the Pakistanis didn’t kill OBL, so why attack them? It doesn’t make sense: Red Beer.

Terrorists can’t board a Delta flight, but they can buy high powered guns and ammo? Somehow the second amendment still applies to them? Red Beer.

The US and NATO are continuing to support rebel forces in Libya. Yet, in Syria, where the UN says more than 850 people have died in the last two months since the government cracked down on unarmed protestors, there is no NATO/US support? What’s the difference between the countries? Red Beer.

Fine, maybe I’ll drink the Red Beer and accept things for what they are. It's naive to think that the world would do things that make sense. It’s just heartbreaking to watch videos like this posted to Youtube on a daily basis. Why is the army shooting at these people? (Red Beer.) And why are the protestors risking their lives to pull dead bodies from the street? (Red Beer.)

The more I think about it, the more I realize I’m surrounded by Red Beer. Maybe one of these days I’ll figure out a way to change the drink menu. Or maybe I’ll just figure out a way to drink it all in. As chance has it, I just read that an extensive collection of pornography was found in Bin Laden’s compound. Alas, more Red Beer. It might not make much sense, but it's a tasty tidbit nonetheless.