Organizers of outdoor gatherings of a certain size will need to ensure that attendees will be provided with freshly grilled sausages, according to a law passed by the Chamber of Deputies on Monday.
The law requires that any group activity involving 10 or more people congregating outdoors for more than 30 minutes must have a Grillwurscht stand.
Opponents long argued that such a law would be intrusive and unnecessary, and that it would make a mockery of the country and its traditions.
“Everyone with eyes to see and a nose to smell knows that Grillwurscht stands already spontaneously appear whenever there’s a group of people standing outside,” said Deputy Corrine Moschter during debate last month.
Moschter provided a list of hundreds of cases going back to the 1980s when sausage stands mysteriously manifested, even for gatherings that were not social in nature, such as when parents were waiting to pick up their children from primary school, or at the scene of a minor car accident that had drawn curious passersby.
Deputy Fabrice Kuel, who introduced the bill, countered that Moschter was missing the point.
“Laws are not just to sanction bad behavior and encourage good behavior, but to codify societal norms and values,” he said. “And yes, there have been cases of gatherings, primarily of foreign-born residents, in which no sausage stand appeared, with the attendees not even noticing the absence.”
“Three Italians, three Brits, and three Indians decide to have a summer party in a park,” he continued. “No, this is not the setup for a joke. It’s a real and very sad story about the time when no sausage stand appeared, when not a single Grillwurscht or Mettwurscht was served.”
“How do I know?” he added. “I was there. I was the tenth person.”
Kuel did agree with some members who opposed the draft law who say sausage stands appear as if by magic, but he insists that increased awareness is needed in order for the magic to do its thing.
“Awareness leads to expectation, and expectation leads to want: a powerful desire to enjoy grilled local sausages in the presence of others, a desire that is felt by the universe.”
“We believe in grilled sausages,” he added.
