Previously in a blog post or two, I’ve written about the random laws various states have with regard to alcohol. In California, it’s fairly liberal, I guess. You can buy hard liquor, wine, and beer in grocery stores. Heck, Target even has wine and beer. But, there are only so many liquor licenses to go around. The state does control how many retail locations are in any given area that sell booze.
Coming from that mindset, you have to understand that I see liquor stores as a layer of the seedy underbelly of the alcohol trade. Usually, in California, they are in quasi-unsafe locations and frequented by ne’er-do-wells. Hence, I have some reservations about shopping at liquor stores even if they are run/licensed/sanctioned by the state. Maybe, I have a little wine/beer snob in me.
However, I have seen advertisements for wine shops in the Twin Cities area and sometime in the near future, I will definitely check them out. Maybe those are just liquor stores with a fancy name. Good marketing on that front if you ask me!
Mostly, I just don’t like the restrictions placed on consumers. They seem very arbitrary. In California, the only restriction is that booze can’t be bought between the hours of 2 AM and 6 AM. Even that restriction seems little ridiculous. I mean what’s four hours? But to put a whole day off the retail calendar each week? I’m sorry, but that will always be odd to me.
I should clarify that Minnesota has a Blue Law with regard to selling booze. All of the state liquor stores are closed, so you can only buy alcohol at a restaurant or bar.
Here in MA, happy hour is illegal!
Illegal? What the?
They consider it a “public safety issue” for bars and restaurants to offer free drinks or reduced prices on drinks only for certain hours… It supposedly ecourages drunk driving.
Bunk. If someone wants to get drunk, the price of the alcohol isn’t going to be a huge factor. Hell, it was illegal for a while and people still drank it. Sigh… That truly sucks for you.
Well, it’s no problem for me, as I don’t drink, haha. But I agree with you. It’s silly. Even sillier now that we’re getting casinos in MA. Free drinks while you play slots, but the bar down the road can’t have happy hour?