Yesterday my small hometown was gripped by the terrible onset of hoards of bargain frenzied shoppers, who descended on the local Tesco store having been alerted to a catastrophic error in the Tesco pricing system, which caused crates of beer to be critically under-priced. News apparently spread quickly, propelled by the cold, unrelenting power of social networking sites and word of mouth. I even have first hand accounts of stunned shoppers telling anyone within earshot as well as phoning friends and family members. After several hours of this madness, Tesco deigned to limit the crates of beer to 3 per customer, as the small supermarket's infrastructure struggled to deal with patrons purchasing inebriatory delights in the quantities they had been loading up on. Later in the day I personally watched a man struggle to lift 3 crates all at once, his mind too addled with the prospect of cheap beer to go get a trolley. Fuller details are here for anyone with an unhealthy interest in pricing cockups - 

You may at this point be pondering the extent of this snafu. What magnitude of mishap could price beer so cheaply that droves of people appear in strong enough numbers to cause serious congestion in a supermarket car park, summon the police and turn the entire event into national news material? 3 crates of beer could be bought for a very reasonable £11, making for a saving of £9 on the expected price. Nine pounds! That's all it takes presumably, to pull people from their homes and instigate a local disaster. Perhaps this is a matter for an economics paper - people are stimulated in some way by the opportunity to grab a deal they shouldn't be getting - but to me this speaks to the underlying alcohol problem we have in my country.

Scotland, for those of you living out-with Britain, has something of a drink problem. Like many post industrialised areas, (we at one point, built an impressive number of ships in Scotland - especially in the area in question, the West of Scotland) we have pride for our past accomplishments, the same accomplishments which are probably the underlying cause for the debilitating alcohol culture we currently cultivate. This is kind of a reminder for me of the many shames that blight what is in many ways a great country. 

So I'm wondering, should I have a problem with this culture? Are any of you guys disturbed by the pervasiveness of alcohol where you are? I'm not a big drinker anyway, and I can't help but think it's because I dislike seeing it given such weight by everyone around me. In case you're wondering, I didn't jump on the deal, Heineken was overlooked. Also, would you guys pounce on 3 crates of beer for £11 ($18)? It's a bit of a steal but it wasn't riling me up the way it was the rest of the town.

*Disclaimer - the word "inebriatory" is not considered an actual word. Consider it a neologism, or a mistake.