On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:11:47 +0100, Sacha  wrote:

>A few years ago we were invited to the Commodore's cocktail party at 
>HMS Britannia, Dartmouth.  As guests arrive, a cadet is detailed off to 
>escort them into the Quarterdeck and up to the Commodore and his wife, 
>getting them a drink en route.  Our escort at the first party we went 
>to was a very strict Muslim.  Not only would he not bring us a drink, 
>he wouldn't carry a tray with drinks on it!   He was perfectly polite 
>about it, explaining it to us carefully and I was quite interested that 
>he couldn't even touch the tray when actually doing his job.  I 
>mentioned this to our friend, who was then the Commander and he was 
>astonished this chap had been detailed off for that job.  He said he'd 
>make sure that cadet wasn't asked to do that again because it was 
>potentially embarrasing for guests and for him.  It didn't worry us but 
>I suppose others might have been a bit put out.

Ages ago I worked with a chap with a similar approach to avoiding
contact with alcohol. He wouldn't even risk breathing the fumes so he
avoided any place that served drinks. It was quite amusing at times
when we had to divert our lunch time walks around the city to miss all
the pubs. He often made a joke about sniffing alcohol on the breeze
but I know that deep down he was deadly serious,

Steve

"Stephen Wolstenholme"  wrote in message 
news:un96e59ea7j5e3moupseunbnn016vb1ash@4ax.com...
>
> Ages ago I worked with a chap with a similar approach to avoiding
> contact with alcohol. He wouldn't even risk breathing the fumes so he
> avoided any place that served drinks. It was quite amusing at times
> when we had to divert our lunch time walks around the city to miss all
> the pubs. He often made a joke about sniffing alcohol on the breeze
> but I know that deep down he was deadly serious,

If this is a true story, just how on earth did this chap get around in the 
world? Did he ever go on foreign holidays where he would *never* have a clue 
if alcohol fumes lay around the next corner? Come to that, did he ever even 
travel anywhere in Britain where a strange location could have laid him open 
to many an "alcohol on the breeze" trap? Did he have minders or carers who 
went everywhere before him sniffing the breeze for signs of "ALARM! ALARM! 
ALARM! ALCOHOL FUMES AHEAD!"???

And more to the point, just what did happen to the poor unfortunate chap if 
he ever did accidentally breathe such minimal alcohol fumes as those exuding 
from a pub etc.?

Did he die? It sounds much more preferable than living with such a 
"handicap"?

-- 
Pete

On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 17:58:16 +0100, Sacha  wrote:

>On 2009-10-24 17:42:52 +0100, Stephen Wolstenholme 
> said:
>
>> On Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:11:47 +0100, Sacha  wrote:
>> 
>>> A few years ago we were invited to the Commodore's cocktail party at
>>> HMS Britannia, Dartmouth.  As guests arrive, a cadet is detailed off to
>>> escort them into the Quarterdeck and up to the Commodore and his wife,
>>> getting them a drink en route.  Our escort at the first party we went
>>> to was a very strict Muslim.  Not only would he not bring us a drink,
>>> he wouldn't carry a tray with drinks on it!   He was perfectly polite
>>> about it, explaining it to us carefully and I was quite interested that
>>> he couldn't even touch the tray when actually doing his job.  I
>>> mentioned this to our friend, who was then the Commander and he was
>>> astonished this chap had been detailed off for that job.  He said he'd
>>> make sure that cadet wasn't asked to do that again because it was
>>> potentially embarrasing for guests and for him.  It didn't worry us but
>>> I suppose others might have been a bit put out.
>> 
>> Ages ago I worked with a chap with a similar approach to avoiding
>> contact with alcohol. He wouldn't even risk breathing the fumes so he
>> avoided any place that served drinks. It was quite amusing at times
>> when we had to divert our lunch time walks around the city to miss all
>> the pubs. He often made a joke about sniffing alcohol on the breeze
>> but I know that deep down he was deadly serious,
>> 
>> Steve
>
>Phew!  That's a bit OTT, surely?

We all thought so at first but after a year or two it seemed to be
normal. Everyone accepted his ways. He wasn't the most OTT person
either as we had one chap with a germ phobia. 

Steve