Kindness of Strangers

I awoke this morning feeling tired as usual and got ready for work. Today was the first somewhat cold day that I actually had to put my sweatshirt on. Then while waiting for the tram, the guy next to me points to his wrist indicating he wants to know what time it is. I look at the time and respond "Kello on yhdeksän neljäkymmentä" (9.40), feeling proud that I was able to respond with numbers for the first time in Finnish.
A minute later the guy, not dressed to the 9's but not like your usual poor drunk, took out a half liter bottle of really cheap, bad tasting Estonian Vodka. This shit's just as bad as Koskenkorva (sorry to you Fins, but i'm not a fan of this vodka named after Koske's Ear or waterfall or whatever the hell it is). He just opens the bottle and leans his head back and takes a nice big, huge, healthy swig of warm vodka. By this time it's only 9.41 in the morning. That's early, even for me!
He then looks at me and holds the bottle up for me to take. The thought of a swig of vodka this early in the morning before going to a workmeeting did have a strange sort of crazy appeal to it. But since I was already running five minutes late to the meeting, I didn't want to show up with Vodka on my breath. So I shook my head and said "Ei, kiitos". The girl standing to my left utters something I couldn't understand and he proceeds to hand the bottle to the girl who must have only been 17 o 18 and decked out with Van Dutch parell (although Van Drunk would have been more appropriate, but I won't split hairs.) She takes the bottle and and downs a couple of gulps like a fish would water!!! Then she hands it back to the man while I'm standing there wide-eyed with disbelief.
While I was pondering the events of "The Offering" in the tram did I remember Kristian telling what is so great about Finnish work-culture. "I can show up 15 minutes late to work and no one cares. I show up to work drunk. I tell them I'm too drunk to work and am going home. I will come back tomorrow and finish the work, and nobody cares."
Oh well, better safe than sorry, I guess. But I missed out on my chance for some real Gonzo Journalism.
Until then. . .