I'm Not Slow...Really

My mother-in-law recently sent me a great recipe (thanks, by the way!) for a tropical dip, to be served with fresh fruit. As an added bonus, it only has a few ingredients and is really easy to make. This is my kind of recipe. There is a great liquor store in our town. A Beer Barn of sorts. It's big, and they have all kinds of alcohol and accompanying treats. They also have very nice employees who speak excellent English, and are always happy to recommend a great beer. I'm positive that they can help me out. It was really busy today. It's Saturday, after all. I was standing in front of a big display of mixed alcohol drinks (and apparently looking a little lost), when an employee stopped by and offered his assistant. I told him that I was looking for a Pina Colada mix with no alcohol. Let me stop here and point out that while some words don't translate well between Nederlands and English, expressions certainly do. There was no mistaking the fact that I had just asked something that was not only ridiculous to him, but that he was now trying to decide if I was perhaps a "little slower" than the average adult. Belgians are very polite, so instead of voicing what he was most definitely thinking, he cautiously said "No alcohol?" "Yes", I replied. "I just need the mix." He stood there a few seconds and looked at me. Speechless. In my defense, this dip is for a Bible Study group (and there are always toddlers tagging along), so there are probably all sorts of moral and ethical issues involved with serving them alcohol. Yes, the kids would take a fantastic nap, but still...I'm thinking it's a big "no-no"! I didn't really want to get into to all that while standing in a warehouse full of Belgian men pushing around carts loaded down with cases and cases of beer. (It is Saturday, after all.) The salesman politely assured me that his Pina Colada mix was alcohol infused (why wouldn't it be?), and had no idea where I would be able to pick up some that was not (seriously, what's the point of buying a mixed alcohol drink without the alcohol?). Maybe it was just my imagination that he seemed to be speaking a little slower than usual. I thanked him for his time, grabbed a bottle of melon creme liquor from the shelf beside me, and headed over to join the fellas in the checkout line. The ladies and toddlers will be having whipped creme with their fresh fruit. The liquor is for me. It's been a long day.