A man walked into a bar in London, ordered 3-glasses of beer then sat at the back of the room, drinking a sip out of each one in turn.

When he finished, he came back to the bar and ordered 3 more. The bartender said to him, "You know, beer goes flat if you take too long to drink it; it would taste better if you buy one at a time."

The man replied, "Well, you see, I have two brothers. One is in Australia, the other in Canada and I'm here in London. When they left home, we promised that we'd each drink this way to remember the days when we drank together.

The bartender admited that it was a nice custom and left it at that. The man became a regular in the bar, and always drank the same way: He would order 3 beers and drink them in turn.

One day, he came in and ordered only 2 beers. All the other regulars noticed this and fell silent.

When he came back to the bar for the second round, the bartender said, "I don't want to intrude on your grief, but I'd like to offer my sincere condolences on your great loss".

The man looked confused for a moment, then laughed .... "Oh, no," he, said, "Everyone's fine - both my brothers are alive".

"It's just that I've quit drinking."