picture this: a birthday lunch for a very close friend – 5 spry elderly ladies  sharing  first courses at a wonderful restaurant- arguing politics, shartng information and having a marvelous time with the waiter.  Me, I managed to resist the waiter’s encouragement throughout the meal to imbibe because it really makes me disfunctional, but couldn’t resist the lemoncello chasers. Now I know that Islam forbids drinking but the waiter drank with us and seemed to hold it much better than I did.  And now that I think of it, I only drink with Arab waiters.