"Bring it back, brother, that stuff is the devil's brew," were the words I heard a Bible-holding man utter to a stranger on the sidewalk today, as I was walking by.
Another man holding a Bible stood next to the speaker - the pair had stopped a young man to scold him for a purchase he had just made.
Cradled by the man being harassed was a flat of 24 cans of Budweiser Zero. Otherwise known as non-alcoholic Budweiser.
Recognizing the drink (which I agree is awful, but for different reasons) I stopped in my tracks first to witness the spectacle, then grudgingly get involved in it.
The two were blocking the man's path and he not only looked confused but also intimidated by these complete strangers.
He stuttered "It's for a friend's birthday," to which the first street preacher responded "Giving someone that is like giving them death! Take it back to the store, brother."
Not able to take any more of this, and hoping to free the young man from these misinformed freaks who were harassing him, I budged in.
"Do you even know what's in those cans?" I asked.
"Beer! It's Budweiser!" Bible-clutching man number 1 responded.
"It's Budweiser Zero. There's no alcohol in it,"
"Well... well... that doesn't matter! It's still evil. It's a drug. It gets people accustomed to the taste of beer, which is awful stuff. If the government cared about us they'd shut all of these stores down," he spat, gesturing toward the Cambie Street government liquor store, where the preacher's' bullying victim had likely bought his non-alcoholic flat of beer from.
"Do you drink coffee?" I inquired. "Because there's more drugs in that than in non-alcoholic beer."
The second Bible-holding man chimed in, aghast that I would compare the two things.
He then pivoted from booze and into a tirade about COVID-19, mask mandates, and vaccinations, ending by asking rhetorically why nobody sees the big picture and they are so oblivious to "what's going on" with our government.
As I have zero time for anti-vaxxers, I told him: "Maybe nobody sees what you see because you're way out there on the fringe, and you're an outlier with a weird view," and I walked away.
Not surprisingly, the two didn't follow me as I crossed the street. I got the last word, and they surely moved on to a stranger which they could more easily bully.
If you see people like this approaching folks on the street like this, and you don't mind talking to strangers, step up and tell them how you feel about them randomly harassing people.
If you agree with what they're doing, great - you just made a new friend. If not, your speaking up might make them feel less emboldened to walk the streets stopping people and bullying them over retail purchases - and personal decisions - they just made.
