Post by Neil on Nov 21, 2008 10:41:45 GMT -8
(direct quotes from article in italics.)
All those parents of young kids out there who've from time to time said, (and who hasn't?) “Gee, I wish I could take little Jimmy down to the local tavern and get us both all liquored up”, I've got one word for you- Wisconsin.
Last Sunday's New York Times had an article describing the happy hour atmosphere in 'America's Dairyland' state, where there is no minimum age for drinking, as long as you're with your parents. Families need not be separated when Dad spends Saturdays shooting pool down at BillyBob's with the boys... because the boys might be his. Bar owners can exercise their own discretion as to who they serve, so, presumably, if your fourteen year old is under the table after only three or four shooters, he won't be welcome for long. But, no doubt, the law is great for keeping families together, for as one bar owner comments, “On game day, a buddy of mine will come to the bar with his 2- year- old, his 8- year -old and his 10-year-old. He might get a little drunk. But his wife just has a few cocktails. It's no big deal. Everybody has a good time.” Presumably, the 10-year-old sticks to light beer. The same bar owner, prudently, doesn't allow kids in the place after 9 pm. “When it gets later in the night, people don't want a bunch of kids running around”. Especially if they're pestering customers to help with their phonics homework. This bar owner his his limits. “I've had situations where a parent was going to buy drinks for a kid who looked 8 or 10 years old. I had to say, 'That's a no-go'” Human rights for child drinkers extends only so far. Junior also isn't allowed to belly up to the bar and buy his own beer; dad has to do that.
Kids can also drink in restaurants, as long as mom or dad are there to choose the right wine to go with the chicken fingers.
Not surprisingly, Wisconsin's open minded attitude toward drinking doesn't end with kids. You don't have to worry about going dry even at church socials. The state leads the U.S. in incidents of binge drinking. Your right to drink and drive is protected, as long as you don't weave around, since state law prohibits sobriety checks by the police, so, no worry about pesky roadblocks at Christmas. You have to have had five arrests for drunk driving before being charged with a felony. The state has the highest rate of drunk driving in the entire country (how do they know?), and the highest incidence of drunk driving deaths. But, hey, that's just the price of freedom. To those who want to toughen the laws, the head of the Wisconsin Tavern League says, “It's gotten to the point where people are afraid to have a couple of beers after work and drive home, for fear they'll be labeled a criminal.”
The Times article was headlined, 'Some See Big Problem In Wisconsin Drinking'. So, presumably, some don't. The country that brought us the slogan 'Just Say No To Drugs' and introduced the concept of herbicidal carpet bombing in foreign countries to dampen the drug trade has at least one state where the slogan for kids' drinking is “Bottoms Up”.
But what about it? Is Wisconsin stark raving mad, or is there something in the argument that if you introduce kids to drinking in a family atmosphere, it's better than having them get clandestinely pie-eyed with friends? Seems nuts to me, and it seems sort of akin to an old notion of personal freedom that you find in the U.S.- like the old rebellion against seat belts and the 55 mile an hour speed limit. Wine at the family dinner table is common in Europe, and kids have been known to have a swallow, but it seems to me that the whole mindset in Wisconsin is something else altogether.
All those parents of young kids out there who've from time to time said, (and who hasn't?) “Gee, I wish I could take little Jimmy down to the local tavern and get us both all liquored up”, I've got one word for you- Wisconsin.
Last Sunday's New York Times had an article describing the happy hour atmosphere in 'America's Dairyland' state, where there is no minimum age for drinking, as long as you're with your parents. Families need not be separated when Dad spends Saturdays shooting pool down at BillyBob's with the boys... because the boys might be his. Bar owners can exercise their own discretion as to who they serve, so, presumably, if your fourteen year old is under the table after only three or four shooters, he won't be welcome for long. But, no doubt, the law is great for keeping families together, for as one bar owner comments, “On game day, a buddy of mine will come to the bar with his 2- year- old, his 8- year -old and his 10-year-old. He might get a little drunk. But his wife just has a few cocktails. It's no big deal. Everybody has a good time.” Presumably, the 10-year-old sticks to light beer. The same bar owner, prudently, doesn't allow kids in the place after 9 pm. “When it gets later in the night, people don't want a bunch of kids running around”. Especially if they're pestering customers to help with their phonics homework. This bar owner his his limits. “I've had situations where a parent was going to buy drinks for a kid who looked 8 or 10 years old. I had to say, 'That's a no-go'” Human rights for child drinkers extends only so far. Junior also isn't allowed to belly up to the bar and buy his own beer; dad has to do that.
Kids can also drink in restaurants, as long as mom or dad are there to choose the right wine to go with the chicken fingers.
Not surprisingly, Wisconsin's open minded attitude toward drinking doesn't end with kids. You don't have to worry about going dry even at church socials. The state leads the U.S. in incidents of binge drinking. Your right to drink and drive is protected, as long as you don't weave around, since state law prohibits sobriety checks by the police, so, no worry about pesky roadblocks at Christmas. You have to have had five arrests for drunk driving before being charged with a felony. The state has the highest rate of drunk driving in the entire country (how do they know?), and the highest incidence of drunk driving deaths. But, hey, that's just the price of freedom. To those who want to toughen the laws, the head of the Wisconsin Tavern League says, “It's gotten to the point where people are afraid to have a couple of beers after work and drive home, for fear they'll be labeled a criminal.”
The Times article was headlined, 'Some See Big Problem In Wisconsin Drinking'. So, presumably, some don't. The country that brought us the slogan 'Just Say No To Drugs' and introduced the concept of herbicidal carpet bombing in foreign countries to dampen the drug trade has at least one state where the slogan for kids' drinking is “Bottoms Up”.
But what about it? Is Wisconsin stark raving mad, or is there something in the argument that if you introduce kids to drinking in a family atmosphere, it's better than having them get clandestinely pie-eyed with friends? Seems nuts to me, and it seems sort of akin to an old notion of personal freedom that you find in the U.S.- like the old rebellion against seat belts and the 55 mile an hour speed limit. Wine at the family dinner table is common in Europe, and kids have been known to have a swallow, but it seems to me that the whole mindset in Wisconsin is something else altogether.