In Germany it’s 16 – the kids going on the exchange trip from my high school to Nuremberg always have a lot of fun…
Heh, I (mostly) grew up in California and moved to Washington, and I was surprised to see that there’s no liquor in the grocery stores. In California you can buy a gallon of vodka at Safeway, but here you have to find a state liquor store… and all the liquor stores close at 8 or 9 in the evening, making it impossible to replenish your liquor during a party.
See, my experience was kinda the opposite. I’ve been born and raised in Maryland, and never realized liquor laws were different anywhere. Then, the first time I travelled the country (at age 27, yikes!), I realized that there are states where you can buy hard liquor right in the supermarket!! I was accustomed to the idea of being able to buy beer and wine at the market from having visited Virginia, but had no clue that some places actually sold whiskey in the stores!
As far as replenishing in the middle of a party, we get around that here by going to a bar that also sells “Package Goods”. It’s hideously expensive, but they are open until the bar closes.
Drinking in public illegal in the UK? That would be horrible!
Anyway, I had a teacher who, when he had a cough, would carry around a paper bag with a bottle of Covonia in it and take swigs out of that.
:o :mad:
You missed out Middlesbrough!
:eek:
Every single day?!
Generalize much?
I think here the laws on drinking in public are handled by the towns. I’ve been told that in Boston it is now a $500 fine, although I’ve only ever seen them make everyone dump their beers out and recommend using cups instead of (non-brown-bag-covered) cans.
And over here in Cambridge, they don’t even allow drinking outdoors at a restaurant with outdoor seating, except for Shay’s, for whatever reason.
I think you mean 'orrible.
Fah! Yersh te koptel ag. Bleargh ag twan! Pshew ern pah, fleckerd!
Pretty much, yes: it’s not a proper meal without a glass of wine. And then of course there’s all the drinking in public, people sitting outside pubs or cafés, and the innumerable other booze consumption occasions.
But it just isn’t a big deal.
I can only speak for myself, but I don’t see people drinking every day. I see it once a week when I’m in the pub, and with a meal if its a special occasion or we’re eating out, or at a party.
“Only drink when you’re alone, or with somebody else…”
More and more local authorities in the UK are introducing public drinking bans within town centres. The bylaws allow the police to confiscate open drink containers in public areas. My town is one of many with a ban on street drinking within the town centre.
Google for public drinking bylaw uk - there’s reference to a large number of towns and districts.
So I wasn’t COMPLETLY wrong then. hurrah!
When I lived in Memphis, a sweet old lady rocking in her chair on the porch called out to me to stop so’s she could admire mah dawg. We chatted a few minutes, and she invited me in for a drink. I hesitated (nine years of New York training, don’t let strangers invite you inside their houses to get drunk) and she, misinterpreting it as religious qualms, let fly this gem:
“Baptists don’t drink.” (nods head, pause)
“-In public!” (gales of toothless laughter)
Actually she did have teeth.
I still didn’t go in for the drink.