Drunker Later

By: Mr. Wilson on August 31, 2010
The City Council went ahead and approved a 2 a.m. bar closing time, to nobody's surprise. The change goes into effect on September 17. It's a substantial change that will take all the involved parties a little while to get used to. Look for "aftermath" -type stories in local media in the weeks and months that follow. In an ideal world there would be no closing times. There's no good fundamental reason for bars to ever have to close. But over time our culture has decided it's a good idea to push every limit with alcohol. Drink more! Drink longer! Behave like a douchenozzle! It's no wonder city councils everywhere feel a need to step into this realm where reasonable adults really ought to be able to take care of themselves. Instead, we get paternalistic -- if not authoritarian -- proclamations like this gem from Doug Emery: "This is a privilege, this is not a right. It can be taken away." Thank you for your graciousness, oh wise and benevolent City Council! Ugh. Yet as repugnant as I find the attitude underlying his statement, I can hardly blame Emery for taking the tone of a father warily extending curfew. Lincoln's Downtown bar owners and patrons aren't exactly golden children. I hope the folks involved here demonstrate a modicum of responsibility so that adults in this town can be treated like adults. It would be a shame if, shortly after the change goes into effect, we find ourselves watching the news and muttering "This is why we can't have nice things".

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

Gene
August 31, 2010 at 5:12PM

I predict that it won’t be that big of a deal.

Peter
August 31, 2010 at 6:50PM

The Server Education Program?

If all that is changing is closing time, doesn’t only require that servers can tell the time?

Chris
August 31, 2010 at 8:08PM

“Lincoln

Mr. Wilson
August 31, 2010 at 8:38PM

No, it’s one of those annoying grading systems where the entire group is assessed a collective grade. An O Street full of alcoholic twenty-somethings overpowers any effect more virtuous drinkers may have. Likewise, crappy bar owners ruin it for the rest.

But then, I’m pretty cynical when it comes to alcohol abuse. I have no love for drunks.

beerorkid
August 31, 2010 at 10:34PM

I worked as a bartender for the better part of a decade.  LPD offered classes for bartenders that sound exactly like what is being proposed.  These were voluntary though.  I enjoyed them actually.  I got paid to go and it put us in good light with LPD.  Win win.

Fletch
September 1, 2010 at 2:20PM

All I know is that this thread needs more “douchenozzle.”

Blaine
September 1, 2010 at 5:27PM

Doesn’t beer come out of a “douchenozzle”?

The possibilities for that sentence are endless…

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