8. Beer me
Alcoholics in Amsterdam get paid in beer for performing street cleanup duties.
“The basic idea is to extend to alcoholics an approach first developed to help heroin addicts, who have for years been provided with free methadone, a less dangerous substitute, in a controlled environment that provides access to health workers and counselors,” says program director Hans Wijnands.
Workers are given two beers at the start of their workday at 9:00 am, two at lunch, and sent home with two at the end of the day. One program participant went on record to say “I’m not proud of being an alcoholic, but I am proud to have a job again.”
source: NY Times
The program has, by most accounts, been a success for all involved.
Egyptian pyramid workers were allegedly paid with one gallon of beer per day of labor.
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