In an effort to observe the locals in their natural habitat, I went to the ribbon cutting at the new BC Liquor store at Alberni and Bute in Vancouver (link to store here).
A few days ago, one of the checkers told that they’d be having a ribbon cutting. When I arrived and saw everyone there in business attire, I realized that his mentioning this event did not equal an invitation for yours truly.
Are you here for the opening? My wide-eyed look of ‘oh-gosh-I-don’t-belong-here-but-there-might-be-free-samples’ was not missed by the guy at the door, but he let me in anyway.
Marketing cracks me up.
In moderation, of course.
There was the usual speechifying, but the formalities were brief. In fact, the guy pictured above was the only one who spoke. It was refreshing to be at an event where one guy covered the whole agenda in under 15 minutes, and there was no need for every mucky-muck to get her/his two-cents in.
On average, bottles of wine are at least $5.00-7.00 more in Canada (not enough difference between the CD and the USD to quibble about which dollar). Moving south of the border, even Two Buck Chuck is $3.00 in Trader Joe’s located in Oregon (not sure about Washington). Dear State of California, if you really need to raise some cold hard cash quickly, I say slap some taxes on alcohol (like you’ve done with cigarettes).
West Coast Grrlie Blather 
So. . . Did you get to sample the wine and booze?
Good question—sorry I left that bit out. The samples were 1 oz of Moet Chandon and a thimbleful of Bailey’s. Nice little tastes. Bailey’s is a winter beverage to me, though.
Where’s the Beef?