Will Work for…Beer? Germany’s Latest Social Experiment
Imagine after a long week of back breaking work you head into pick up your paycheck. You step up to the manager and say, “That will be 4 six packs and two beer steins please.” The manager then asks, “Would you like that in Wheat, Dark, Blonde, and in glass or cans?” Such are the methods of payment a few alcoholics found themselves signing up for under the latest German social experiment.
The experiment has only a handful of participants and does actually offer a small wage in addition to the beer payment. At this time there are only 5 candidates participating and each of them are categorized as severe alcoholics. The program is called “PICK-UP and is designed to help give these individuals a sense of hope. One of the participants was interviewed and had this to say according to DW(Deutche Welle):
“I’m not doing this just for the beer. I can find beer on my own. I can get drunk anytime I want. This is something that allows me to help the people around me, and it gives me a chance to give back to my city,” said the unnamed participant.
Though the man was happy to participate in the social experiment, other addicts in the area found the program unappealing. One women who did not approve had this to say about the new project.
“I don’t have a job because I don’t want one, and I doubt that anybody would want to hire me in my current state. But am I going to take part in a charity scheme that pays me one euro an hour to make a fool of myself? I can get more money begging in 10 minutes. And, quite honestly, a beer costs 25 cents here. Am I going to sweep the streets for three beers? No chance.”
One thing is for certain, if you have to be paid in beer it’s best to be in a country where beer is about as good as it gets. The only beer that might be better would be found in Belgium. A small monastery produces the voted on World’s Best Beer. Westvleteren…even I would sweep streets for a case of this famous and difficult to get beer! (Full disclosure…we recently made it to the only place in the world where you can get Westvleteren…you are limited on how much you can buy…2 cases per person, per every quarter, and it is strictly monitored!)
