3.2 beer laws.. why?
So I'm leaving Oklahoma City today (don't ever come here, really) and am at the Will Rogers airport. I always get to airports plenty early so I can sit and be a complete dork on my laptop and look like I'm too important with my mp3, fly fusion pen, and my Bose headphones all hooked into it. But I digress. I get to airports early so I can go sit in a bar, catch up on some sports and news, and have a drink, which usually consists of a bloody mary as I usually fly in the mornings. Afternoon/evening flights I stick to my normal of Jack Daniels. This is my first (and last hopefully) time in Oklahoma City, even Oklahoma for that matter, and sitting at the bar I ask for a bloody mary, and the bartender, whom we'll call Kyle, informs that he can only serve 3.2 abw beer up until 10am (abw is Alcohol by Weight, the common measurement for the alcoholic content of any beverage). For some dumbass reason, in Oklahoma, from 6am-10am, they can only serve 3.2 beer. I really thought this law had been abolished back when the goverment decided to withdraw highway funds unless the states moved the drinking age up to 21. I remember being at Colorado State in Boulder in my youth and they would serve 3.2 beer to those over 18 and under 21. Even had some 3.2 alcohol clubs there. So, a cursory Google search turns up this link on Wikipedia. Now, it may not be the most accurate or up to date, but it was surprising to see how many states still have a designation for '3.2' alcohol. I'm really at a loss to understand, why? Why can't it just say on the bottle what it is, and you can sell whatever whenever? I mean, look at some of the state laws. You can go to Nevada, and not even get arrested for public intoxication, But go to Kansas, and you're fucked in just about 10 different ways. Where I live they still have dry counties, no sales on Sunday or Christmas, but then they have 'special' laws allowing restaurants to see alcohol in restaurants in a dry county on Sunday. WTF?!? I guess the quick answer from the religious right and you teetotalers out there is, 'Don't Drink'. Well fuckwads, Jesus turned water into wine for a reason. He put the plants here and gave people the brains to make alcohol, so let's just fuck off with that religious shit. And you AA junkies.. well, you go fuck yourself too. Keep that shit to yourself, and don't interfere with my desire for a bloody mary at 6am with my ham and eggs!