Mr Patel walks into a bar in London, orders three pints of beer and
sits in the back room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn. When he
finishes them, he comes back to the bar and orders three more.
The bartender approaches and tells him, “You know, a pint goes flat after a
short while it so it would taste better if you bought just one at a time.”
Mr Patel replies, “Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in New York,
the other is in Nairobi and I’m here in London. When we all parted company
four years ago, we promised that we’d drink this way to remember the days
we spent together. So I drink one for each of my brothers and one for
myself.”
The bartender admits that this is a nice custom and leaves it there.
Mr Patel becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same way. He
orders three pints and drinks them in turn.
One day, he comes in and orders only two pints! All the regulars take
notice and fall silent.
When he comes back to the bar for the second round, the bartender says, “I
don’t want to intrude on your grief, but I wanted to offer my condolences
on your loss.”
Mr Patel looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns and he
laughs. “Oh, no, everybody’s just fine,” he explains…
“It’s just that my wife and I became devoted followers of the ISKCON Hare
Krishnas and obviously I had to quit drinking. Hasn’t affected my brothers
though.”