Alcohol consumption is one of those unusual topics that come up in German society and news. Being an American, I'd typically say that we Americans have some heavy drinkers and can generally match up with what Germans do. I would also make the comment that Germans have built up a resistance to alcohol and sometimes will surprise you with their ability to handle it.
This comes up today, after reading over an article from the Rhine Zeitung (the local Mainz newspaper).
Down in Speyer.....cops got called out. A guy was noted half-way passed out and folks felt concerned.
The cops arrived and decided to use the analyzer that they carry in the car.
The older guy half-way passed out? He seemed to be agreeable to this and volunteered for the test. As far as I know.....he wasn't in a car and there's no chance of points being taken away via the license business.
I suspect the cops were expect something around 1.5 to 2.0 on the alcohol testing....more than enough to say the guy was drunk. The machine maxes out at 5.5.
Well....the guy maxed out. Yeah.....5.5.
What the experts will say is that you ought to be dead at 4.0-to-4.5. Alcohol poisoning ought to be in progress and you really need to be at the hospital....dying any minute now.
What the reporter put into the story was that this gentleman had wrapped up at least five bottles of vodka. The time span was left out and maybe the guy had spread the five bottles over five hours, or maybe even ten hours.
The positive to the story is that the guy got over to the hospital and they checked him out. He's alive and still ticking.
How drunk was the guy? He might have been 6.0 and maybe even on up to 6.5. Normally, under all conditions.....a guy ought to be dead. Yet this guy survived on.
So I come back to my German associates and note the following. Germans consume a fair amount of alcohol and beer. They build up a slow reaction to it. When you hang around a German....especially in a bar setting.....you might want to think about this, and just keep your own consumption under control of what you consider is normal. Don't try to out-drink a German.....I just don't think it's possible for American to win at such a competition.
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