Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Big News for Booze

Governor Granholm has done quite a bit to change Michigan's liquor laws since coming into office. Well, laws related to liquor anyway. Such as reducing the legal blood alcohol content limit to be the equivalent of a beer every three hours for a 300-lb linebacker ensuring the state of Michigan and all of its fine defense attorneys a steady flow of income for endless years to come.

She's also given a lot of lip service to keeping bars open until 4AM. This would further feed into the above cycle of more money for the state squeezed out of underemployed twenty-somethings whose subsequent driving and (by extension) employment records are ruined for the rest of their lives by giving them an extra two hours to make bad decisions every single night! (Or at least on weekends.)

How's that whole mass transit thing coming, btw?

Most recently a bill has come across Jennifer Granholm's desk allowing for bars to begin serving alcoholic beverages at 7AM on the mysteriously-still-stigmafied Sundays. This would in effect make Sunday just like every other day, and as people are more likely to imbide on Sunday mornings than on any other mornings thanks be to the time-honored tradition of bottomless mimosa brunches, this change in law might actually prove to boost liquor sales and possibly even attendance.

Now, for those of us who don't roll out of bed before noon on Sundays anyway (hi), this won't make a lick of difference ... except on those days when we're still awake from the night before at 7AM. (Hasn't happened in a GOOD month, I swear. Wait, make that two weeks. A GOOD two weeks.) However, since most places start serving brunch at 11AM (and some even earlier), that extra hour of potential liquor sales can certainly help their bottom line. And heck, it might even entice places to fire up their brunch buffets even earlier, which will appeal to that after mass mimosa madness crowd. Or at least the early risers.

And why should Sunday be any different? It defies logic at this point -- is it a "Sabbath" thing? In a state that is probably 60% Christian AT BEST, most of which are non-observant of the Sabbath (if observant of religious tradition at all)? Makes about as much sense as businesses closing early (if even open at all) on Sundays. It's an antiquated practice that's been outdated for the better part of the last 2 decades. Not to mention super-inconvenient -- my God/Allah/Buddha/Jehovah, there are only so many days in a weekend.

The House and Senate have both passed the bill and now it awaits Granholm's seal of approval. Come on, Jennie -- we know how much you like those dewey dollars. That's 5 more hours every single week times all the boozehounds in the state that you have to cash in.