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Choice B Is Wyoming, Explained

SLC Punk · 1998

Capítulo 6 de 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.

StorytellingShoppingExplainingComplainingFriendsB2fastamerican

Key moments

Start here, then watch the full scene
  1. ❝ Monólogo · 9 frases Where else but Wyoming

    0:02–0:39
    37s
  2. ❝ Monólogo · 7 frases Suspicious is not a crime

    The narrator admits they look bad, then uses mock legalese to say that is not a crime.

    1:21–1:41
    20s
  1. ❝ MonólogoWhy the weak beer backfires9 frasesPracticar ↗
  2. ❝ MonólogoSuspicious is not a crime7 frasesPracticar ↗

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.

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Preguntas frecuentes

La pregunta, luego la frase
Why 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.