Ah, the Aussie way

Recently, a small incident brought home to me just how interesting the Aussie view of life is.

I was visiting a doctor for a medical exam (required for certain activities I was planning), and we got to chatting about what I was doing in Sydney. I explained to him that I had transferred from India for a while, and was thoroughly enjoying myself. He, in turn, told me his story of how he cam to Australia from Europe in the eighties as a student, and went on to make a life for himself here. He now considers himself fully immersed in the local society, and as Aussie as the next man.

In the course of the examination, we came to the entry on alcohol consumption.

The question read: On average, how many glasses of alcohol do you consume each week?

I had, after brief consideration, put down: 2-3

The doctor looked at the entry, and then looked up at me. His eyes went back to the sheet.

"Two to three glasses of alcohol a week?" he said, his brows furrowing.

"Uh... yes," I replied, worried thoughts running through my mind like particularly fleet-footed gazelles as I wondered if this would disqualify me from my planned activities.

"Three glasses, huh?" he said again, further compounding my worry.

I preemptively wiped a bead of sweat off my forehead.

And then, with a broad smile, he said, "You're an Aussie now, mate. That number should be at least 7 or 8 glasses a week!"