Cowboy habits

[markem]

A cowboy, who just moved to Wyoming from Texas, walks into a bar and
orders three mugs of Bud. He sits in the back of the room, drinking a
sip out of each one in turn. When he finishes them, he comes back to
the bar and orders three more.

The bartender approaches and tells the cowboy, "You know, a mug goes
flat after I draw it. It would taste better if you bought one at a time."

The cowboy replies, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in
Arizona, the other is in Colorado. When we all left our home in
Texas, we promised that we'd drink this way to remember the days when
we drank together. So I'm drinking one beer for each of my brothers
and one for myself."

The bartender admits that this is a nice custom, and leaves it there.

The cowboy becomes a regular in the bar, and always drinks the same
way. He orders three mugs and drinks them in turn.

One day, he comes in and only orders two mugs. All the regulars take
notice and fall silent. When he comes back to the bar for the second
round, the bartender says, "I don't want to intrude on your grief,
but I wanted to offer my condolences on your loss."

The cowboy looks quite puzzled for a moment, then a light dawns in his
eyes and he laughs.

"Oh, no, everybody's just fine," he explains, "It's just that my
wife and I joined the Baptist Church and I had to quit drinking."
"Hasn't affected my brothers though."

[G G]