That says it all, really.
Thanks for making the effort anyway, porc. Maybe next time, eh?
Yes. To O’Toole’s and back to Doubletree. I don’t know how late the Blue Line run or when.
Oh, hush. I still find him amusing, and not always at his own expense, either. It’s just that particular attempt fell far short of the mark.
Joking response of “I can be really immature if I wanna be!” aside, I guess I’ll be holding people’s coats/flamethrowers or something.
At least I know that now, as opposed to at the door to the place.
Thanks for the heads-up, porc
I just wanted to mention that I’m getting really excited for ChiDope! 
I’ll just do a little remeniscing here. I remember back when I was in college. I remember being a very mature 19, and longing to get into a bar. I’d arrive a little early, before they start carding. I’d hang out while friends went in to get an ID of someone of age who looked somewhat close to me. I remember these things fondly, Errrr, I mean Things I frown on now.
grrrrrr <-------- me frowning.
But I’m just rambling in my old age. No hints or thoughts to be taken from this rambling. Nope Nope Nope.
And I’m supposed to get my licks and bunny stuffings from who then? 
Well, beagle, I won’t enjoy it any more than you will, but I guess I’ll have to do it.
I should hope not, since something like this could get the entire group thrown out, and me in major trouble, since I’m the one who’s name and credit card reserved the room.
Actually, as far as I know, there is nothing illegal about having an underage person in a bar/restaurant like Timothy O’Toole’s. What IS illegal is if that person is in Possession of Alcohol. Now, in a crowded room, with lots of alchohol around, there may be some very strict, by the book people who would say that can be possession. However, if the minor has not imbibed at all, and is willing to prove that with a breath-alcohol test, I see no problem with said minor attending an event.
I just think we may be erring too far on the side of caution by keeping age-imparied people from an otherwise fun event. I, for one, can not envision Chicago P.D. spending the resources to check for underage drinkers in a packed bar on a Saturday night. I also cannot envision those same officers from arresting anyone underage who can prove by a breath test, that they were never in possession of alcohol. I’d be further amazed (smack me on the ass and call me Sally amazed) that they would hold the person renting the room responsible. If this issue was never discussed on a public message board, without somebody calling the proprietor to give them a heads up, it would be a non-issue.
That being said, I really appreciate all the hard work and effort you put into this event, porcupine. You have gone above and beyond the call and I, for one, wish to give you a big hug for making this weekend a great time for all.
I can still come can’t I? Pleeeeeeaassssseeee?
Partial dittos to Hamlet. If the young’uns do NOT drink (for real, here) and there is no carding at the door when they arrive, I would support them joining us for dinner and discussion and leaving, stone cold sober, when their curfew gets close. If the Toolies DO get their undies bunched, I am supremely confident we can pitch in to get porc’s money back, and find alternate acommodations. As I recall, these bar tabs approach the GNP of many small nations, and it would be a shame for them to lose that profit over some “minors” who WILL NOT BE DRINKING OR HAVE ALCOHOL IN THEIR SYSTEMS. (hint, hint, to anyone who DOES drink)
[sub]NOTE: No laws are to be broken, and no animals are to be harmed in the execution of these festivities. OK, no animals will be permanently scarred.[/sub]
Not amazing at all. It’s the law here in Michigan too. The person allowing someone who is not of legal age to drink imbibe is the one who gets popped. Doesn’t matter if it’s a club owner or the underager’s own parents. Doesn’t matter if they knew the person they were serving was underage. Doesn’t matter if the underager blew an awesome fake ID past them. The adult-in-charge is legally responsible, here in Michigan. And since porc’s name is the one on the room, she, as well as the restaurant owner, would be responsible.
Now, we know that tiggy & punha wouldn’t do anything to get us or themselves in trouble. And we could swear that to the heavens to the club owner. But it doesn’t really matter. The club owner doesn’t know them. For all he knows, we could be saying that *simply because * we want to bring them in and get them drunk. Of course that’s not what we want, but still, he’s got to obey the law. And since we’re his patrons, we’ve got to obey the law and his rules. Period.
Dammit! Two of the most fun people won’t be there Saturday night. Damn those pesky alcohol-consumption laws!
I, on the other hand, will be, and will be happy to take good notes.
Robin
That’s partially my point. There is no law being broken by being a minor in Timothy O’Toole’s. Hence, there is no adult to be held legally responsible. I’ve been in plenty of bars, like the kind jarbabyj mentioned, where they allow minors into establishments that serve alcohol, and just give them a wristband so they don’t get served.
I’m also talking from a practical standpoint here. It would be simply amazing to me that anything bad would happen when 2 underage people (2 people who ARE NOT DRINKING) are having dinner and discussions with 30 who are of legal age. Like I said, I can’t see the CPD doing anything, nor, as UncleBill points out, the manager of O’Toole’s would be quite upset to see a possible $500 bar bill go walking down the street to another bar. The email from Timothy O’Toole’s, if you look at it as I do, was not NO WAY IN HELL, it was PLEASE DON’T GET ME IN TROUBLE.
And if they don’t like it, we’ll just have tiggeril sick Og on them.
OG SMASH
I’d like some clarification on this. Is O’Toole’s strictly a bar, where no one under 21 is allowed through the door, or is it a restaurant, where anyone can have dinner but you have to be 21 to be served alcohol? If it’s the former, then I understand the under-21’s not being able to join us at all, but if it’s the latter, then they should at least be able to come and have a bite to eat with us. Is it possible to have a curfew, where the young’uns have to leave by a certain hour? Say 10 or 11?
I certainly wish that tiggy & punha be allowed to join us. My husband is a musician and works at the occasional club/restaurant that has a curfew for minors, and I think that’s a fine idea (means that someday, I’ll be able to take the kids to hear their dad play a real gig!).
But hey, if the Timothy O’Toole’s guy doesn’t want us to get him in trouble then we’ve got to either a) respect that, or b) find another place to go, that will allow tiggy & punha to party with us, at least for a while.
FTR, I asked the O’Toole’s guy yesterday via email to see if we could do this. I haven’t heard back yet.
If you all who are saying “Well, we could just go somewhere else” are willing to find a place, call them and make arrangements, and reimburse me for the $100 (or more accurately, UncleBeer and manhattan, who offered to pay for this), feel free. Actually, it might be more than $100, since I believe the contract says we’d spend a minimum amount (which escapes me at the moment).
As far as whether it’s bar or restaurant, I guess it’s a bar that serves food. I don’t really know; I’ve never been there and booked the place on recommendations of local dopers who had been.
I think I have had enough of planning dopefests. This is probably the last one for me - it’s not worth the aggravation. Next time I’ll just show up.
Is this your first ChiDope? $500 covers the peanuts we eat!
Let me put this simply for all those who apparently think we’re making it up: O’Toole’s cards at the door.
Yes, it’s a bar that serves food. Mostly a bar. I think that so much planning and effort has gone into this weekend, and we worked out a nice package with the O’Toole’s people, and it frankly would be ridiculous to change the location at this late date. That doesn’t mean I don’t love Tiggy and Punha (I do.) I don’t know know what it means…I guess the needs of many outweigh the needs of the few or some such crap.
I think it’s sad that people are getting all huffed about this, and it reminds me why I stopped trying to plan parties.
I apologize for ever mentioning O’Tooles, I just thought it was a fun, downtown location
How many people are saying we should go somewhere else? I see one so far. I think that since we have made arrangements for a place, we should go there, and if it turns out that a couple of people out of the 50 can’t go there, that will certainly suck, but it doesn’t have to torpedo the entire plan.
It’s unfortunate that nobody considered this possibility before, but what’s done is done and all the shrieking in the world isn’t going to change it. It’s possible that we still may get word that our under-21s can join the group for part of the evening. If not, they can certainly participate in every other activity going on this weekend. Except for the fornication, of course. That would be illegal.