ABInBev

We took a trip to InBev, the largest brewing company in the world, on Wednesday afternoon. I was thoroughly unimpressed by the tour for two reasons. Firstly, nothing there was working like I had supposed it should for us. We couldn’t see all the production facilities because we happened to show up when carbon dioxide had filled up a warehouse, poisoning the atmosphere inside one of the facilities housing a major element of the brewing process. Also, the bottling lines – perhaps the most active part of the entire facility, happened to not be running upon our arrival. Secondly, I don’t like beer and think it is a repulsive drink, even if it is a product that generates tremendous economic power and wealth. About the only thing I did like about the InBev tour was the end when they gave us free Coke and Fanta and let us watch the old Stella Artois commercials. Those commercials were quite entertaining. As I thought the tour was not very educational or enlightening, I really have no remaining questions about how beer is made or distributed, nor do I have any interest in someday working for a brewery.

Socially, InBev has a great responsibility to public health and education about the dangers of drinking irresponsibly. The dangers of alcohol consumption are well documented. However, after taking the tour it was very obvious that those who work there are quite enthusiastic about their jobs. Our tour guide obviously loves beer; she made that very apparent. Equally as apparent to me is the fact that I don’t want to work there because I am not passionate about beer. I suppose the most important thing that I learned is that doing something that I’m not passionate about is not something I am interested in.