“- Where'd you get the beer? - Wyoming. Where else?”
Why it's great
The place name answers, and the tag dares anyone to name another option.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
You asked where I get noodles. The stall by the station. Where else?
00:00 / 02:21
00:00 / 02:21
Choice B Is Wyoming, Explained
SLC Punk · 1998
Chapter 6 of 10 · 2'21"
Someone asks where the beer came from and hears Wyoming. The talk then covers weak supermarket beer, all of three liquor stores, rotten hours, and a teller who has a squad car follow them home. "Wyoming. Where else?" is not a joke about geography. It is what remains after Salt Lake itself is ruled out.
Key moments
Start here, then watch the full scene- 0:02–0:39
❝ Monologue · 9 lines Where else but Wyoming
37s - 1:21–1:41
❝ Monologue · 7 lines Suspicious is not a crime
The narrator admits they look bad, then uses mock legalese to say that is not a crime.
20s
Choice B Is Wyoming, explained
What happens
In Salt Lake someone asks where the beer came from and gets Wyoming. Supermarket beer in Utah is weak, only three state stores sell the real thing, and their hours are awful. The teller is called a cop who sends a squad car to follow them home. After that the fight is with rednecks, not the law, and Wyoming is the only choice left for real beer.
What's really going on
Supermarket beer in Utah is so weak that a drunk drinks twice as many and ends up "fat and gross." Real beer means the state store, and "There are all of three stores in Salt Lake City to buy it," with hours that ruin the errand. The teller is the snag: "not just a teller" but "a cop," and buying a beer gets a squad car sent to follow them home, because one look means they will "be trouble." They had "done absolutely nothing wrong," and looking suspicious is not "a crime in and of itself." That defense does not hold. "But this was not about the law. This was about rednecks." The cops are "mortal enemies," worse than mods, rockers, or posers, so "we took our beatings when we could." "Choice B, Wyoming" is the exit, not a preference.
Key lines & what they mean
- “- Where'd you get the beer? - Wyoming. Where else?”
- The beer is from Wyoming because that is the only place left. "Where else?" shuts the question instead of listing options.
- “You know a drunk's just gonna drink twice as many beers to get drunk.”
- Weak supermarket beer does not stop the drinking. It just doubles the cans, and the drunk is still a drunk.
- “There are all of three stores in Salt Lake City to buy it.”
- Salt Lake has exactly three stores for real beer, and the phrasing sneers at how few that is.
- “He's a cop. This guy right there, he's a fucking cop.”
- Same claim twice: the man at the counter is a cop. The swear word adds no new fact, only fear and hate.
- “But this was not about the law. This was about rednecks.”
- The squad car is not a legal point to win. It belongs to a grudge, and the rednecks are the cops.
- “So we took our beatings when we could.”
- They do not dodge the fight. When a beating is there, they take it, because the battle with the cops has not stopped.
Theme
- Satire — Weak beer, "all of three" stores, and a teller who sends a squad car make a beer run a joke about the rules.
- Justice — Looking suspicious is not "a crime in and of itself," but a squad car still follows them and the beatings still land.
What this chapter teaches
Teaching points
Review right after watchingMy level1/8
A1–C2 is the CEFR scale. Cards above the level you pick fade, and playback will not auto-pause on them.
Language points
Click a card to jump to its moment in the videoGolden lines
A great line in its own right — why and how to use it“You know a drunk's just gonna drink twice as many beers to get drunk.”
Why it's great
Fake arithmetic makes the weak beer sound worse than a stronger one.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
A weak espresso just means I drink twice as many cups to wake up.
“There are all of three stores in Salt Lake City to buy it.”
Why it's great
All of plus a tiny number pretends to boast while sneering at how few.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
On Sunday there are all of two print shops open on this block.
“He's a cop. This guy right there, he's a fucking cop.”
Why it's great
The second cop is the same fact with the fear and hate turned up.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
He's the landlord. That guy in the hall, he's the actual landlord.
“But this was not about the law. This was about rednecks.”
Why it's great
The repeated frame drops the law and puts a grudge in its place.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
This is not about the deadline. This is about who left early.
“So we took our beatings when we could.”
Why it's great
The beating sounds chosen, so the loss comes off almost proud.
Register
Informal
Use it yourself
She took her beatings after the election speech and stayed on the ticket.
Monologue
One character carrying the scene — shadow the whole passage❝ Why the weak beer backfires
This actually needs some explanation. Beers in supermarkets in Utah is weak. You know a drunk's just gonna drink twice as many beers to get drunk. So not only do you have a drunk on your hands... but you got a drunk who's fat and gross. There's nothing worse. So if you want real beer, you have two choices: A, the state-run liquor store. You see, you can buy regular beer here. There are all of three stores in Salt Lake City to buy it. And their hours suck. Oppression. Also, these were the only places to buy any alcohol outside of private clubs.
It inflates a weak beer into a fatter drunk and then into oppression.
❝ Suspicious is not a crime
Now, Bob and I may not be innocent... but we are usually pretty law-abiding, usually. On this occasion, we had done absolutely nothing wrong. We looked suspicious, yes, but in all the years of pre-law... I uncovered a lot of contradictions in the system... but I had found nothing that told me looking suspicious... was a crime in and of itself.
The narrator admits they look bad, then uses mock legalese to say that is not a crime.
Up next · 07stand forThe scene: An Essay on FightingPeople also search
Questions, then the linesWhy does the beer come from Wyoming?
Supermarket beer in Utah is weak, so getting drunk takes twice as many and leaves someone fat and gross. Real beer is only at the state store, all of three in Salt Lake, with miserable hours, and the teller calls a squad car after a purchase. The only option left for real beer is Choice B, Wyoming.
Why is the liquor-store teller called a cop?
He is not just a cashier taking the money. Once they buy a beer he calls a squad car to follow them home, because one look is enough for him to decide they are going to be trouble. That is why he is treated as a cop.
Why are three liquor stores called oppression?
The whole city has all of three stores for real beer, their hours are awful, and outside private clubs those stores are the only place to buy any alcohol. That shortage is what gets called oppression.
Is looking suspicious a crime in this scene?
No. They looked suspicious and are not called innocent, but on this occasion they had done absolutely nothing wrong. Nothing they found made looking suspicious a crime in and of itself, and the follow-up says this was not about the law.
Why do they take the beatings?
The cops are called rednecks and mortal enemies, worse than mods, rockers, or posers. The battle is still going, so when a beating can be taken, they take it.