Can’t the mulled wine walk just stay, please?
Spoiler alert: this is going to be a bit of a rant. Firstly because I’m in that kind of mood today (a press conference like that does wonders for my mood) and secondly because I genuinely think the way this is being handled yet again is nonsense. I’m talking about the mulled wine walks. Or, well, actually the hospitality venues where you can get takeaway mulled wine. I think it’s such a lovely concept: you’re out enjoying a walk and, in the meantime, drinking a wonderfully warm mulled wine.
But… then they intervene again. Because we can’t have nice things in 2020, the mulled wine walk is now a no-go too. Because with all that mulled wine and people walking around, things get far too cosy, and apparently that simply isn’t allowed because we can’t have fun while there’s a pandemic going on. Impossible. So what does the government do? It introduces a number of rules that suck all the fun out of it.
Heaven forbid it has any atmosphere
Hospitality businesses that still dare to sell mulled wine have to follow a number of rules. For example, there may be no heaters or parasols, because then it’s too atmospheric and cosy and people will stick around – the HORROR. So those have to go. But it gets even worse: the collection point must – I kid you not – look austere. No Christmas decorations, then. That’s too cosy again, and people will stick around. Seriously, this is genuinely in the regulations. The pan of warm mulled wine may not be visible at the collection point either.
In addition, mulled wine may only be sold in a sealed bottle. Cups are forbidden, even if they are sealed. And if you break these rules, you have to close. Just ask De Duvel in Amsterdam, which was punished with a two-week closure. Two weeks of even less revenue for a business that is trying to make the best of things. You know, the hospitality industry that had to close, even though it was ‘responsible’ for 2.6% of infections. Meanwhile, those hospitality entrepreneurs are also watching everyone go completely wild on Black Friday. But heaven forbid you sell mulled wine in a cup… Yes, then you have to close for two weeks. But the shops that were black with crowds of people are (at least until tonight) completely fine.
Just let the mulled wine stay
So there’s another press conference tonight, during which – if the leaked information is correct – it will essentially be announced that everything is closing except the supermarkets. But dear Mark Rutte and Hugo de Jonge, please just let these mulled wine options remain. Going for a walk is pretty much the only way we can safely meet up and catch up with friends.
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