Clueless Lawmakers Fail To Understand The Bar Culture
Ohio is the latest state to close bars and restaurant/bar at 10 p.m.
Which, of course, makes it the latest state to do something really stupid by officials who have no clue about the people who go out to the bars.
As any Pubclubber knows, if you close the places where we can get a drink early, then we will just start drinking earlier. We even calculate our drinking starting time based around the closing time. So let’s say it’s 10 p.m. – this for some reason seems to be some type of standard in this COVID-19 era – and as opposed to the normal closing time of 2 a.m.
Normally, we would go out at about 10, meaning four hours of nightlife. Now, tho, with us cut off at 10 p.m., we simply push up our going-out time to 6 p.m.
That’s the same amount of drinking time and at least close to the same amount of drinking; it just comes at a different time of the night.
I always laugh when city councils get together to discuss taming a town’s “raucous” nightlife and bar scene. (Raucous is a popular word with them tho the definition varies wildly because raucous to a 20- or 30-year-old is a lot different than a stogy 50- or 60-year old.)
The thing they always talk about is closing the bars earlier, completely ignoring the fact that dong that will just force people to go out earlier in the night.
The Order To Order Food With Drinks
Here’s another dumb thing being forced upon us is the requirement to order food in order to get a drink.
What officials don’t realize is that we often drink more with food than without it. That’s because it’s only natural to need some type of liquid refreshment to wash down what we eat. And I can assure you that if we’re in a place selling beer, wine or cocktails, we’re not going to be drinking iced tea or water.
Does Live Music Cause COVID?
Apparently, not only does drinking after 10 p.m., and not having food with alcohol cause people to get coronavirus but apparently so does live music, for it is banned at bars and restaurants in many streets. Even one musician on a guitar. That’s ridiculous.
PubClubbers Are Being Treated Like Children
With all the restrictions on bars and restaurants, and the people who go to them and keep them in business, officials are treating us like children.
Well I have some news for all of you. We are adults. We have professions, careers and families. We are responsible and know how to handle our liquor. After all, one of the PubClub mantras is “if you’re going to drink, drink often.”
Plus, not everyone who drinks is not in their 20s. Ever been to a college football tailgate party? Who sets up the tents and who leads the scene? Alumni in their 40s, 50s, 60s and even 70s.
Sure, not everyone who goes to a bar or a restaurant to drink is model citizen. But is every elected official a saint? As I write this, a Tennessee state senator got caught swindling $600,000 in federal funds, which she used to pay for a wedding and a “lavish lifestyle” according to news reports.
The way we look at it, the people making the laws can’t obey the laws. And to degrees unfathomable to us “ordinary” citizens.
Bottom line: treat us like adults. If you don’t know how to do that, then I will be happy to provide direction. For a nice consulting fee, of course.
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