It’s A Good Thing, Right?
Time On-line has a great article about the change in consumption of booze. Due to the “recession” more drinking folks are staying home and consequently, fewer are going to bars.
“When the going gets tough, the tough, um, go drinking. That’s the word from a new Gallup poll showing that 67% of Americans are hitting the bottle, the most since 1985. Another sign of challenging economic times: more and more of those rounds are happening in the kitchen, not at the corner pub.” (Time On-Line, August 9, 2010, Janet Morrissy)
Well, we’re up to 67% – isn’t that just wonderful. But there is really good news I think. With fewer people going to bars, the incidents of drunk driving might go down. Perhaps there will be fewer drunks in the local police “tank.” Those are good things, right?
Of course, if the stats are true, I would wager (can we do that?) we will hear more about “domestic abuse,” i.e. battered wives, and/or husbands, abused children, divorce, broken windows and furniture, and the like.
I’m trying to look for a positive in all this – I’m just having a difficult time finding one. Maybe if the “recession” gets worse, booze will become an item people will not long be able to afford. Who am I kidding? Drunks will stop buying food and baby formula and medication and school supplies and clothes and insulin before they will stop buying booze.
We’re going to drink our society to death before we can kill it with political correctness and regulation/taxes.
Oh yeah, and I’m an optimist.