May 28, 2010

  • I guess one should give the guy points for honesty.

    I was just at the liquor store (where'd the silly term "package" store come from, anyway?) buying a bottle of vodka.  Upon leaving the store, a man clearly not of means approached me, saying he's an alcoholic and just needs fifty cents to buy a bottle of vodka.  After gaping at him for a second in open-mouthed astonishment, I rather forthrightly told him no, I wasn't going to give an alcoholic any money to buy alcohol.  shocked

    Points for honesty, yes....money, no.

    Afterward it occurred to me what I ought to have done was offer to call the non-emergency police number so they could give him a ride to the Union Gospel Mission or Presbyterian Night Shelter, in hopes he'd hear the gospel plus receive counseling for his acknowledged addiction.  Unfortunately I'm not good at thinking on my feet, so this better option didn't cross my mind until later.  sad

Comments (3)

  • :camera:Good for you!!! I kinda wish you had called the Gospel mission number, that would have shaken him up and maybe made him say, OK maybe it's time to stop boozing.

  • "Package" store comes from the silly idea that naming liquor out loud encourages vice, because it's an "advertisement." In PA until 20 years or so back, the state-run liquor stores (yes, they're all state-run) were officially known as "state stores." Then they loosened up and started calling them "Wine and Spirits Shops." Over the border in New Jersey, where the relatively "liberal" alcohol regs allowed liquor to be sold in small, privately own shops along with convenience-store type goods, they were also called "package stores."

    In PA, the laws are so silly that the beer distributors (in most cases, you have to buy beer in cases at distributors, or else at bars) can't sell anything but cases of beverages -- not even party snacks to go with the beer. Because, you see, if you let other things be sold alongside beer, that's just the same as letting any old store sell beer, and We Can't Have That.

  • When we moved to Michigan,  having been so accustomed to the above-mentioned PA rules and regs, I was amazed to see liquor sold EVERYWHERE - grocery stores, drug stores, gas stations.  They also have "party stores" that sell liquor.  I'm surprised all Michiganders aren't sots.

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