The Beer Sheriff and the Dalai Lama

Every few months, a man in a nondescript uniform would walk into our restaurant and pour our Budweiser down the drain.

That was his job.

Now, I'm not a fan of Budweiser particularly.  But as a craftsperson, I have always the brand's ability to maintain a consistent product; millions of bottles of it, every year without fail.  Consistency is one of the hardest disciplines in any industry involving natural goods like barley and hops, which from year to year, field to field, and grower to grower will never be identical in their qualities.

The truly great restaurants of the world, of which there probably aren't more than a hundred, spend big money on the resources, both material and human, to provide a consistently amazing experience for the diner.  In the kitchen, they do it by exerting control over every step of the process, and judging everything all the time, repeatedly.  What does it taste like Now?  That is the question that makes a cook successful.  In the dining room they do it by intelligently responding to whatever happens in the moment.  How are they Now? That is the question that makes a server successful.

Back when A.B. was a locally-owned brewery, they had this idea about the Now of their beer - not only to stamp an expiration date on it, but go out into the world and find out if people are serving the beer past this date.

Our little French restaurant sells far more wine than beer (last night notwithstanding!) and so once the Beer Sheriff paid a couple visits and found we had product on the verge of expiration, he figured we may need checking up on from time to time.  So he used to come by quarterly and ferret out the oldest Bud, pour it down the sink, issue us a credit for the beer, and then have fresh product shipped to us.  This didn't cost us any more than a few minutes of our time and the wholesale price of Budweiser - which let's just say is a good value.

We asked him once if we should send the beer home with employees, and he replied "That would defeat the purpose - which is to keep people from drinking compromised Bud."

Here's where the Dalai Lama comes in.

I heard the Dalai Lama give a public address in St. Paul years ago, and he talked about "the power of Now." The power that comes from being fully engaged in the present.  He said (to paraphrase) that the Now is so powerful, and the nation of China fears it so much, that many Tibetan citizens will live the rest of their lives in prison because of it.  He explained further that although qualities like compassion are built through practice over time, they are only activated in the present moment, whatever and wherever that moment is taking place for you.

From the global machinations of a huge company like A.B, down to the breath you are taking this instant, this elusive energetic movement of time contains enough force to build, shape, and tear down the whole world.

It's a good thought to consider over a fresh beer.

And if you see the Beer Sheriff, send him our way for a visit.  Our Bud is up to date, but I never told him thank you.