One who uses the word "milieu" in casual conversation is unlikely to ever see, much less hear of, a dollar dance. They wouldn't know who else to put at your table.

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Damn. Too slow.

White trash
 

That term is usually shortened to "trailer trash."

Honey, I shrunk the kid
 

Did that involve Chef? Or have I been out of it for too long?

No. From what it's sounding like now, it's an ethnic thing. Some people have said it's an Italian tradition and I've seen it several times at weddings where at least one side of the family is asian (catholic and non). That said, I did not see the "money dance" at the wedding at the Country Club.

Dollar Dance
 

One of the out of town guests at my wedding asked when we would be doing the dollar dance. I had never heard of it and was in the process of asking what it was when my reception coordinator, who must have overheard, rushed forward and said, "we don't do that here - that is just not done in CT." I have since seen it at numerous weddings in the state where I currently live.

White trash
 

Or how about any person that appears as the subject on "Cops."

Or where to send the invitation - P.O. Box or RFD route.

Wedding Question
 

Ditto the Irish Catholic ones. Never out of hundreds.

But I was at one this weekend in the Port Huron, MI area where after the traditional processional, a singer sang a song from Fiddler on the Roof (something about how did my daughter grow up this quickly?).

There were two other musical numbers thrown into the ceremony too. I'm a big fan of Church's ceremonial music and all, but I had to admit, the showtunes Catholic church wedding was the coolest ceremony I've seen in awhile.

OTOH, even without dollar dances or five dollar fellatio, some of the Irish Catholic receptions are a bit closer to the scene from "the Deer Hunter" than I'd like to admit. Especially if there is an italian family involved NTTAWWT.

Hello

ugh

Dollar Dance
 

Was there just a 20K?

I thought it was odd when I first saw it at my sister in law's wedding (actually, my wife's sister's husband's sister's wedding - what is that?). She had a small silk pouch. I just chalked it up to being a way to help out a starting family though, rather than an opportunity to look down on others. And while most of the people just gave a dollar, I noticed afterward when we were helping clean up that several people had made much larger contributions - there were several $100 bills in the bag.

Edited to add something passing as substantive. And then again because I'm an idiot.

Maybe its regional - I've been to numerous weddings -albeit most on east coast - and have never heard of or witnessed this custom. Of course I'm also a snob - one should never serve keg beer at a party once out of college/grad/law school - certainly not at a wedding - buy decent beer for your friends. (And asking guests to pay for and haul the keg sounds like a bad ep of the Dukes of Hazzard).

Dollar Dance
 

Yeah, Kafka's timing is a bit off, apparently.

Eh? What if it's good beer, that happens to come in a keg?

Although I'll leave it to TF to define "good," kegs aren't limited to Bud, Bud Light, and MGD.

Dollar Dance
 

Nah. I was going for the much more prestigious K-5. :-)

Actually, I stepped out for a few moments. Bastards!

Supporting Law Talkers
 

Groovey. I have just done that. I will encourage the Mr. to do the same, and he buys lots more books than I do.

BR(couldn't get up the nerve to spend $140 on the directors cut verision of Dawn of the Dead, tho, sorry - WTFIUWT, $140 on a DVD? My completely fabulous limited edition Evil Dead DVD with the cool squishy-face-cover didn't cost nearly that!)C

Actually, keg beer is fresher than bottled beer b/c it hasn't been pasteurized to kill the yeast. This is why most heavier (and better) beers are served by the pint, and not via bottle.

Which leads me to a point I've tried to make many times to my friends. Wedding receptions SHOULD serve good keg beer. It tastes better, and everyone walks around with a GLASS instead of a bottle. Even at receptions where the bartenders insist on putting the bottled beer in a glass, people always seem to be walking around with bottles, which I can't stand. Everyone should be drinking from a GLASS. Good, fresh keg beer guarantees this. Unfortunately, people don't understand the freshness aspect and get Heinekin instead. And as I've said before, I'd rather drink my own urine than Heinekin.

No one ever agrees with me on this point, though.

Agree on the asking guests to buy and haul kegs, but years of personal research in the area has shown that "good" beers come in kegs, and from a purely practical point of view, it's a lot easy to handle the disposal of cups than bottles/cans.

Of course, some of the best weddings I've been to have been barbeque or Mexican buffets, served on paper plates, in parish halls or gyms or someone's back yard or the fireman's hall, with enough beer to last all night long, so I might not be snobby enough.

Dollar Dance
 

That's the one day of the year he gets to see breasts again.

He's quite excited.

(How's things?)

Epiphany.
 

Awww. Poor misguided Flower. Here. Have a cookie.


Schmuck.

If you start with a really good keg beer, your urine probably IS better than the Heinekin, as the brewing process is quite similar, but Heinie uses cheaper ingredients.

In terms of politeness, you're probably not going to get a "Thanks!" when you call someone either white trash or a cracker. But "white trash" is generally used by whites to describe other whites, and "cracker" is generally used by persons of color as a derogatory racial term for whites. I've heard "cracker" in the north, though infrequently, and "white trash" tends to have a rural bent along the lines of "trailer trash." Either one will get you bodily damaged by the folks so named.

If you're going to denigrate your own family, I suggest insults tailored to them personally.

I'll agree with you, but offer a possible explanation as to why it's not feasible in most instances. If you're in a hotel/catered place, they probably already have the beer purchased, and bring a load of it. They then charge based on actual consumption, and take the remainder back for the next wedding. A keg doesn't permit that--all you have is the keg, and the rest is wasted. With bottles, you're buying only what you're using (more or less--don't they charge by the case or so). Also, when the drunks start coming off the dance floor, it's a lot quicker to open a bottle than to pump, pump, pump the keg for some beer.

White trash
 

To the extent it is racist, it is reverse racism (it implies the denigration of something besides its target), unlike cracker, which directly denigrates its target.

To put a more positive spin on the term, if you are white and live in squalor, you really can't blame it on descrimination, so you really must be a talentless, lazy piece of crap, unlike with poor people of other races, who have a rebuttable presumption of having been systematically kept down by the Man.

The more PC term would be "trailer trash," as trailer dwellers are not a protected class.

Draft beer gives me a headache (I think from the gas) and I agree with Former Gov't that kegs need to be given up once your school loans are no longer in forebearance. My hubby, who comes from a family that would have qualified as "trailer trash" had they been able to afford a trailer rather than building their own plumbing-free home, insists each time we have a party that we should just "get a keg." I, of course, explain each time that it just won't happen and then head down to the package store myself to ensure (a) that no keg is purchased and (b) that beer in adequate amounts and varieties is purchased. My husband also does not understand why it shouldn't be BYOB -- I am being tested, aren't I? I buy bottles unless it is a pool party in which case his buddies are trusted only with cans. His friends continue to throw BYOB parties or ones which require a sign-up sheet at work along with a fee so that the host can save you the trouble of toting in your own -- I refuse to attend these parties until the hosts grow the fuck up.

I only drink beer from bottles and believe that it is a waste of time to pour it into a mug (why pour from one piece of glass to another?).


Edited to add that under-the-bar keg beer at a bar or reception is not a problem (thought I won't drink it because of the headache thing). It is the kegs with hand pumps that I find disturbing post-college.

Some hotels/restaurants dont bother with actual drink count. They charge by anticipated head count - $30.00 per head for the bar or whatever the bar charges. Often different rates based on the "premium" level that the couple wants for the reception.

The restaurant figures that some will really belly up and drink a ton of Glenfiddich while others are lightweights and will have a single glass of chard.

Good points. I'm not sure, but it may be cheaper to buy an entire keg and waste half of it than buy by the bottle. As long as you pay for it, the caterer should care less if it's wasted. And of course the kegs wouldn't be tapped with pump taps, but with the pressurized taps found in bars/kegerators (although I think you're kidding about the pumping)...

Horror Flicks
 

Can some of you fright-flick fans please explain the allure of scary movies? I watched a friggin' documentary about the making of "Alien" last night, which included a play by play of the special effects of the face-sucker-breathing-in-and-out-while-latched-onto-some-shmo's-face-and-ramming-monster-eggs-down-the-guy's-throat scene, and I was still so freaked out I almost hurled watching it. What the hell is the fun of getting the crap scared out of you? What am I missing here?

Added to note, I don't find any of those Exorcist/Omen/other possessed-by-demons movies scary, as I'm an atheist.

The real difference post law school is that if you throw a party, buying a keg is too much. Every party I've had since then I've ended up with massive surpluses of beer afterwards. Most people bring a six pack. Some folks even bring two. Few, if any of them, drink that much themselves. So now it's like sourdough starter . . . I just chill a couple of the left over beers from the last party and wait for the party to come to me.

Yeah, I know, get heavier-drinking friends.

Kegs are much cheaper than bottles/cans.

And yes, bars/restaurants/hotels will have a CO2 canister to go with the keg to ensure constant flow - until the CO2 bottle is empty or the keg is dry.

The restaurant would be sorely mistaken at my family weddings, where everyone must drink in order to get through the night in close proximity to one another. And it is NOT hard to drink through $30 so that is a preposturous upper figure in my view.

The only time the roommate and I get a keg is for our St. Patrick's Day party. And we only do it for two reasons: (1) stores sell kegs of green beer; (2) it starts at 8 AM.

Dollar Dunce
 

Very well, thanks. I just got back from a wonderful vacation (camping/kayaking in northern Canada) and my new (inhouse) job is fantastic. Looking back, I almost chuckle with my long-ago disagreement with Hidecki re: QOL.

I'm still a raging insomniac, but at least I'm home and not at the office.

Horror Flicks
 

Exorcist would have been much more frightening (especially the green puke) if you were living in the early 1970s and special effects was limited to whatever you could do on paper with coloring pencils and crayons. Much more psychological.

Which reminds me of the last time I partied with a few of my out-of-town buddies. We went to a place that served no less than 16 excellent microbrews in addition to bottled beer. So one of my friend's friend order a Heinekin and was severely verbally punished by all of us for the rest of the night. Skunk beer, piss water and other fine descriptions of what he was drinking were hurled at him, but he insisted that he liked it. Poor stupid sap.

Hmm, where might one find such people?

Guess I'll have myself a beer.
 

Whether one agrees with the specifics or not, I must applaud your true dedication to the cause of good beer.
You sound snobby enough to me: you have just rejected the practices of 50%+ of weddings in America, at a conservative estimate. You openly prefer receptions where there is sufficent food and drink provided to guests, and where they have a good time. Shocking! Those are rare and precious things in this world where trashy (white, trailer or otherwise) brides &/or grooms decide to skimp on their guests to satisfy their own mistakenly inflated egos, and so provide 3 plates of celery to the 300 guests they've crammed into a fancy hotel to suffer together, and then engage in overt extortion to try to extract the cover-price out of said guests in the form of gifts/pay-offs, all for the sake of making "their day" sufficently grand in lieu of providing actual hospitality to their supposed loved ones.

BR(my kinda snob)C

This is exactly why it's up to me to change society's perception of kegs. People need to know that the bottled stuff is cheap, pasteurized swill, whereas the keg is the fancy, good-tasting shit.

OK, up it to $45.00 a head.

But again, consider the costs involved. A full bottle of Absolut can be had by a mass purchaser at about $15-$17 a bottle (750 ml). A bottle of rail vodka is about $10.00 (750 ml).

Even if you were a champ, you're going to drink 1/2 a bottle of vodka. So, at $45.00 a head, you've expensed out $7.50 in vodka. You're left with $37.50 to be spread over mixers (cheap), limes/lemons (cheapish), glasses (virtually zero), and the salary of the bartender.

Although I imagine they'd mark up the $50 keg as much as they mark up the $1 bottles of heinie.

I was sort of kidding with the pumping. I'm not certain all caterers would have a CO2 tap or kegerator they could bring to the party.

That said, I'm still with you on the general sentiment.

I agree. You would rather drink your own urine.