Waiting for Godot
ESTRAGON: Do you know the story of Belgium’s beer cafés? VLADIMIR: Stop it! ESTRAGON: They go quietly. More than 1,500 last year. VLADIMIR: STOP IT! ESTRAGON: Some stay and fight. But many retreat into the shadows. VLADIMIR: I remain in the dark. ESTRAGON: This is how it is. In western Europe, beer consumption is going down. Yet, in Germany they worry themselves sick over Feinstaub, in Britain they angst over Europe, and in Belgium, where the writing is on the wall for most village cafés, punters just shrug their shoulders and drink their beer elsewhere. VLADIMIR: Nothing can be done. ESTRAGON: Well, there is always the black economy and tax dodging. VLADIMIR: What do brewers do? ESTRAGON: They cry into their beer. And wait for Godot, err the taxman, to clamp down on errant publicans. Or, if they are clever, they rev up beer exports to the U.S.
Select offer and read on
6 print issues
