Trust me, bars are not controlled environments by any stretch of the imagination.

Opposed to a house party where no one will call the cops if something goes wrong?

When you look at the actual volume of alcohol consumed between the two settings, there's no contest. Not that I approve, but there is a greater likelihood of the drunk sleeping over at the house party, where that option is not available at the bar, and the dumbass drives to his or her bed. Bartenders flag people based on their own assessment of an individual's level of drunkenness, not on a tested blood alcohol level. I know from experience that people can seem absolutely fine, not be obviously AOB (alcohol on breath) and blow into that little tube and ring the bell at .150 or better. Add other drug use to that, and a person's level of impairment is increased beyond the testable BAL. Yes, I've been in bars that have the green-yellow-red test your BAL for a quarter at the door machine. They didn't last long ... it's one heck of a party game to see who can get it to go highest. More fun that the automatically scoring dart machine or the Shuffle-Bowl table, that's for sure.

Actually it makes all the sense in the world. The reasoning behind both rules is the same: They aren't old enough to think straight. Ask the veterans here if they think most 25-30 year olds would make good recruits. "Drop and give me 20? Up yours, chief." You don't get as much of that from teens.

Trust me, if 30 year old men made the best soldiers, that's who would be recruited.

Since I've been painting a lot I see people's personalities as being like paint: As infants we're wet paint, we don't know anything and we can be pretty much spread all over.

As we get to be teens we dry tack free, but are still pretty soft and a thumbprint will leave a permanent mark. By our 20s 30s we're a mostly cured paint film, but a thumbnail can still make a small ding in the surface. By 50 or 60 we're a pretty hard paint film that is going to crack or chip before it bends or gets dinged. 60 and beyond that paint is as hard as it's gonna get.

Dunno, maybe I should switch to something with fewer VOCs?

All I have to say is...

...Sushi Pants.

EDIT: in response to Wolf, that is.

Drunk driving will not change much if it is at a house party or at a bar. Many people will go to two or more house parties a night where they driving usually longer distances than bar hopping. You can also get a taxi ride home if you are at a bar but that won't happen if you are at a house party because taxis cost a hell of a lot more and it is more inconvienent, not mentioning the fact that a majority of people at house parties are underaged and will not want to call attention to themselves for being drunk.

I'll still admit that drunk driving may go down by raising the drinking age because of your reason but it will still not drown out the goods or lowering the drinking age.

I miss Riti Sped.

Yeah, it's a pity she's gone... and Slow Children At Play hasnt updated in forever and a half, too.

Ibram: great site! :rotflol:

Austin Road Trip is my favorite.

Adult is adult is adult... should be all or nothing. If you can die for your nation, vote, etc, you can buy a beer. End of story.
Damn backward-ass blue laws make us look like a bunch of idiots every day.

Bouncer for three years.... controlled chaos was about it.

Sushi was the thing that ruined it for that guy. He should've gotten some fries or something. I made the same mistake on a business trip awhile back. I had decided at some point that it was a red wine night, and the hors doeuvres table was mostly California rolls. Mmm. Room temperature sushi.

I got back to the hotel room at about 11 to freshen up and get my second wind. What happened instead was carnage. Luckily I had removed my clothes for a shower. I sat on the toilet, felt a rumble, thought "omg", and within 30 seconds of sitting, had coated the entire bottom half of the bathroom (including the shower curtain..ew) in red wine and raw fish. It looked like a shotgun suicide. Took about as long to clean up, too.

My roommate got in about 30 minutes later, but he went to bed instead of coming out for round 2 of the evening's festivities. It's hard to be a rockstar by yourself.

The biggest problem with alcohol (drinking) is that "most" people can't handle their liquor when they become "drunk." I won't even go into drinking and driving - that is just plain stupidity. I have seen so many people get beligerent, angry, violent, obscene. It really is ridiculous! They don't know what they are doing to other people. For the younger folks, it is peer pressure. Personally, I never went for that excuse. To me, it means they are to big a pussy to stand up for what they believe is the right think to do. I told my two daughters to follow there gut feelings. If it wasn't right then get away from it. It worked for them when dealing with boys - and I mean BOYS!

They really should raise the drinking age to about 25. Then for those who decide to challenge the system you make them clean barns or port-a-potties. Young people don't seem to care about the consequences of their actions. To many of them have the idea that if they get into trouble - no problem! "Mommy and Daddy" will bail me out.

Drinking in high school is to be cool.
Drinking in college is to fit in.

The problems with teenage drinking is not in the alcohol but a larger sociological problem. Teenagers haven't been able to feel the full consequences of their actions because no one is enforcing the rules. Parents allow their kids to do anything and pamper them while they drag in the dead body. If parents would only teach their kids how to drink safely and allow them to realize that they have limits and how to find them we wouldn't need a drinking age. The reality of that is very slim and it is only getting worse.

I just don't see how raising the drinking age to 25 will do anything.

Then everything else about being an adult need to move too... adult is adult.
If you can send them off to war, or vote for the president, they can buy a damn beer, you don't have to like it, it is what is right.