Me and J.P. don't do beer reviews

Nov 26 '03    Write an essay on this topic.


The Bottom Line Adoption is a caring alternative for unwanted beer.

In some ways, we would seem to be the perfect candidates for writing beer reviews. In other ways, we understand our limitations. It is because of these limitations, and our devout respect for beer in general, that we refrain from reviewing beers.

Writing a review on epinions.com places a number of demands upon the reviewer. Some writers approach an epinions.com review with unbridled enthusiasm, or contempt, for the product or service they review. While their attitude toward the product or service in question might be completely understandable, given the experience they may have had with it, a good reviewer will always approach his or her topic with a certain amount of objectivity.

One of the first categories we noticed when we first saw the epinions.com site was "Beers". Given that epinions.com does not have a "Pamela Anderson Videos" section, it was inevitable that the "Beers" category would be the most popular draw for the attention of nearly everyone here at the House. However, after a couple of days, J.P. noticed something.

"Some of these reviews aren't very nice."

I sensed genuine pain in his voice as he said that, too. And it occurred to me, these reviewers were talking... well, it was as if... kind of like, they were talking about... our children.

Consider this insensitive remark made by one reviewer:

"inoffensive, bland lager with little if any character"

Alright, I know, I know, there are indeed some beers out there, and understand how it pains me to say this, that are "bland". But how does bland become a character issue? Huh?

Imagine, if you will, your child bringing home a report card that said, "Johnnie doesn't read very well. And he has little if any character."

Tell me you wouldn't find out where that teacher lived, kick over their garbage cans, and soap their windows.

I would.

We understand our limitations with reviewing beer. We just can not say anything critical about ANY beer. Our motto? Every beer a wanted beer.

What forever closed the "Beers" section of epinions.com to all machines here at the house was this little one-liner that some wit had the temerity to post:

"Strong smell and looks like something out of a horse."

J.P. hit the roof.

We took some of our "children" and made it clear to them how much they were adored. No mean-spirited epinions.com writer was going to spoil the self-esteem of our little "family".

Any good parent is going to understand that their children have weaknesses and short-comings. Part of bringing up a child in our society involves the evaluation and/or correction of these problem areas.

However, it is also incumbent upon ALL of us a society to understand this. Every beer is special. Every beer deserves to be a loved and wanted beer.

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About the Author

donmartin
Epinions.com ID: donmartin
Member: donald martin
Location: Providence, RI
Reviews written: 20
Trusted by: 7 members
About Me: Fat, drunk, and stupid isn't THAT bad of a way to go through life.