![\"Drinking](\"http:\/\/www.beersyndicate.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/the-ring-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Drinking")
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Yes<\/em>, this is a beer blog, not a drinking<\/i> blog.\u00a0 In fact, the\u00a0motto is \u201cstop drinking beer and start tasting<\/span> it\u201d, but even I can\u2019t deny that \u2018beer\u2019 and \u2018drinking\u2019 are at least loosely<\/i> associated. \u00a0Because of that, I acknowledge that when talking about drinking customs of the world, we\u2019re not necessarily only<\/em> talking about beer (although\u00a0in my mind, we are).<\/span><\/p>\n AUGENKONTAKT! \u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n “Augenkontakt” (pronounced ow-gen-kon-tahkt<\/i>)\u00a0is a German word which translates\u00a0to \u201ceye contact\u201d, and can sometimes be heard in the presence of German speakers right around the time when glasses are being raised for a toast.\u00a0 For most English speakers though, \u201ceye contact\u201d isn’t exactly a term that evokes foreboding feelings of fear and trembling…\u00a0 not yet at least.\u00a0 But keep reading, because all of that is about to change.<\/span><\/p>\n By the way, have you ever heard someone say \u201csome things you just can\u2019t unlearn<\/em>\u201d?\u00a0 They usually say that after they’ve discovered something they wish they hadn’t, sort of like that ominous moment in the 2002 psychological horror film <\/span>The Ring<\/i>, where right after the main character watches unsettling images on “the <\/em><\/span>cursed<\/em>\u00a0video tape”<\/em>, a phone rings and a girl\u2019s voice is heard on the other end whispering those two disturbingly inescapable words, \u201c<\/span>seven days\u2026\u201d<\/i>, harbingering the amount of time\u00a0the main character has left before she is to meet her grisly end.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Fair Warning:\u00a0For the uninitiated, you’re about to have\u00a0one of those\u00a0“some things you just can’t unlearn” <\/em>moments.<\/span><\/p>\n Seven Years\u2026<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n I first encountered the “eye contact” phenomenon during my later youth spent in Berlin. \u00a0The legal drinking age in Germany for beer and wine was 16, but nobody really enforced it.\u00a0 What was<\/i> enforced however, regardless of age, was “eye contact”. \u00a0That is, making sure you look all of your drinking comrades in the eye during or directly after glasses are\u00a0clinked, but always<\/span> before you take that first sip.<\/span><\/p>\n It felt a bit Twilight Zone-y making eye contact with everyone and having them methodically\u00a0look back at me before that first splash\u00a0of beer hit the lips, but I was polite about it and racked it up to cultural differences.\u00a0 That was until one evening when someone called me out, alleging that I hadn’t looked him in the eye.<\/span><\/p>\n Seriously?\u00a0 What\u2019s the big deal dude?\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n That\u2019s when I got schooled about what the big deal was.<\/span><\/p>\n What I was told was perhaps the most diabolically engineered, fear-inducing mythological curse of all time:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLook everyone in the eye before drinking, or be cursed with SEVEN YEARS OF BAD\u00a0SEX<\/span>.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now that\u2019s a curse.<\/span><\/p>\n Not even the most nihilistically stoic, borderline masochistic German in the middle of a full-blown, angst-y, existential crisis wants that<\/em> nightmare of an albatross around the neck, which is why Germans are very careful to touch glasses with every person within their reach and make eye contact with them and every other person within the immediate drinking group before taking that first drink.<\/span><\/p>\n And this superstition isn’t unique to Germany.<\/span><\/p>\n No, you can find almost identical ocular drinking customs in France, Italy, the Czech Republic, Belgium, and several other countries throughout Europe, all with the same underlying fearful motivation.<\/span><\/p>\n So where did this anxious etiquette come from?\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n If I had to speculate, I\u2019d wager\u00a0that this sexed-up version of the evil eye is a modernized mutation of an older medieval drinking protocol borne out of mistrust and treachery.<\/span><\/p>\n The story goes that within the Viking culture\u00a0during\u00a0the Middle Ages, it was tradition to look your co-drinker in the eye so as to ensure that neither\u00a0party\u00a0was secretly withdrawing a weapon for less than friendly<\/em> purposes. \u00a0During the Viking\u2019s many “expeditions” throughout Europe and beyond, it stands to reason that those who had encounters with Vikings had an opportunity to become familiar with some of their customs. \u00a0I could easily imagine medieval Germans and other peoples advising their countrymen to make sure you look those crafty Vikings in the eye if you ever have the displeasure of sharing a drink with one, or else<\/em>…<\/span><\/p>\n Mirror Mirror<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n Ok, so maybe the Vikings inspired the whole negative association that comes from NOT<\/i> looking someone in the eye when drinking, but where\u2019d the seven years thing come from?<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n You’ve probably heard of the belief that breaking a mirror can result in a seven year sentence of bad luck— not bad sex<\/i> per se, but pretty close.\u00a0 This notion came from the superstitious idea that a mirror could capture part of a person\u2019s soul, and if a person broke a mirror, then part of their soul would be broken<\/i> too.\u00a0 The seven year connection seems to come from the Romans, inventors of the mirror, who believed that a person\u2019s physical body renewed itself every seven years.\u00a0 So the logic is that if the soul is a part of the body and if part of the soul were damaged from a broken mirror, then it would take seven years for that part of the body to be restored, but during those seven years the victim would suffer poor health.<\/span><\/p>\n The idea of a seven year figure pops up in other places too, such as the seven years of famine cursed upon Egypt in Genesis 41:30, the seven year itch, seven years before a bankruptcy is wiped away from a credit report, and also from a pretty legitimate looking email I got that said if I didn’t forward that email to 5 people I know, I\u2019d get seven years of bad luck.<\/span><\/p>\n Whether broken mirrors, eye contact-less toasts, or unforwarded chain letters result in bad luck is ultimately up to the scientific community to disprove if they could take a break from pointlessly hurling particles around a giant underground horse track for a few minutes. \u00a0But until such time, YOU<\/span>\u00a0are now liable with the knowledge that not making eye contact with your drinking buddies\u00a0may land you in a world of lackluster Coitus.<\/span><\/p>\n And if your sex life today ain’t all it used to be, perhaps you need look no further than into your drinking partners eyes the next time you imbibe, or risk adding another seven year bid to your current sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n Sorry friend, I often wish I didn’t have the burden of knowing what you know now, but sometimes in life, <\/span>there are just some things you can\u2019t unlearn…<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n Prost!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Like this\u00a0blarticle? Well, thanks- you\u2019re far too kind. \u00a0Want to read more beer inspired thoughts?\u00a0 Come back any time, subscribe to our\u00a0RSS feed or follow us on Twitter at\u00a0twitter.com\/beersyndicate.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n
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