The Anecdote Bin

THE member of Bill W's Club who sifts through all your interesting contributions and glues them together on these pages, has just returned from four weeks in Europe, where cold beer beckoned but where bottled Vitelle and Fuiggi water won out--even without ice. In France, waiters were astounded, baffled and mystified that we turned our wine glasses upside down while our AI-Anon wife sampled the vintages. "Don't you like wine?" we were asked. "Yes," we replied succinctly, thus confounding the garcons to an even greater degree. . . . In Vienna, Martinis and Manhattans are honestly called "Alkohoimischgetranke," which we take to mean "Alcoholic mixed drinks." They don't fool around with any fancy camouflage like "Cocktails.". . .A copy of this magazine reached us in Venice and, for the first time since we gulped our last dram of booze, we realized how helpful this "meeting in print" can be. . . . But let's get on with your Bin fillers.