Skip to main content

Complicated



Local liquor stores are pushing out delivery after delivery each day. Restaurants are now permitted to sell you drinks with your dinner. Jokes appear online about the perfect quarantine cocktail, or at what time each day it is appropriate for Mom to switch from coffee to wine.

How about you? Are you quarantining with or without?

For me, it’s without. I don’t drink at home. It’s a “going out”, special occasion thing. I don’t judge anyone else, and some of those creative libations look mighty good, really. But it’s just not my thing.

The sale of liquor generates tax money for the state, which must be helpful in a time like this. And, for restaurants, the ability to sell alcohol for pickup/delivery is a lifeline, because that is where most of the money is made. On the drinks. It almost feels as though one is supporting the community by drinking.

And yet.

Drinking alcohol isn’t for everyone. And the prettiness of fancy drinks and artfully designed bottles by local distillers hides another, grimmer world of the daily purchases of whatever is affordable that feed the habit of those addicted to alcohol. It’s ugly, it’s relentless, and most of the time, it’s what keeps liquor stores in business.

I’ve heard some people say that liquor stores aren’t essential and should be closed down for the duration. On its face it seems pretty reasonable. Of course, it might not feel that way to you. Savoring that special drink may be a part of a host of things you are doing to make the best of a hard time. Some may look at it as a quality of life issue.

But for serious addicts the closure of liquor stores is a life or death issue. Severe alcohol withdrawal can mean tremors, delirium, and seizures. It can mean death.

It’s a tricky topic for me, this Quarantine Happy Hour thing. Seeing my friends online enjoy toasting one another makes me smile. Knowing how important the sale of liquor is to the local economy makes me think. Wondering if this time of isolation will push more folks into addiction as they use alcohol to self-medicate makes me sad.

It’s not a simple thing.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more