Ren Allen

Leonor,
You implied that tea is common in England, but not in the Portugeuse
culture....interestingly enough, Portugal is the way tea made it
into Europe.
Do you know your own country's history? Maybe this has nothing to do
with the reason you used the analogy, but it makes me question any
information you write.

Here's a paragraph from a cool website about tea:

Tea makes its way to Europe

The first European to personally encounter tea and write about it
was the Portuguese Jesuit Father Jasper de Cruz in 1560 A.D., in his
capacity as a missionary. After the introduction of tea into
Portugal, they shipped tea to Lisbon; and Dutch ships transported it
to France, Holland and the Baltic countries. Because of the travel
costs to ship, at that time, tea cost over $100 per pound! This made
it the domain of the wealthy. But, by 1675 A. D., it was less
expensive and available in the food shops throughout Holland and
France. Tea drinking became part of the way of life. Dutch inns
provided the first restaurant service of tea. Tavern owners
furnished hot portable tea sets to their guests at their garden
tables. Into the 1700's France and Holland led Europe in the use of
tea.

And this from another site:
As the centuries passed and trade with the West opened up, the
status of tea increased. Tea was introduced to continental Europe
during Elizabethan times, but did not reach English shores until the
years 1657-1660. It was the Dutch who first brought tea to the
continent. The Russians also knew about it before the English, as
did the Portuguese. And it was a Venetian, Gian Battista Ramusio,
who was the first European to write about tea.

Ren:
I can't guarantee this, but I can guess that if I researched it, I
could find a connection to tea in virtually every country in the
world. Whether it was a local version or the black tea that has been
making it's way through most cultures for centuries.

My point?
Tea is everywhere, Portugal included.
Everythng in the whole wide world is connected, whether you like it
or not.
Trying to keep violence completely out of your child's world is not
only impossible (it would be like hiding tea from him) it's also
doing him a disservice. Calm, open communication about any topic is
far safer than knee-jerk reactions and outright meanness (calling
your child's actions "freaky" is cruel).

Just as tea is all around us, so are weapons and human behavior. You
can't stop it, but together, you can happily learn about it.

Ren