Whineo

While packing a bottle of wine in a plastic carrier bag at the grocery store this afternoon, I was reprimanded by the girl on the till. She told me that I had to put it in a brown paper bag instead. Apparently it’s the law.

I’d love to know the rationale for this. Is it to ensure the alcohol is hidden from public view when I step outside the store? If so, why? Who would be offended? And anyway, the plastic bag was opaque too.

Or is the purpose of the law to discourage public drinking? If so, why not just have a law that, well, bans the consumption of alcohol in a non-licensed public place. Why bother with all this nonsense about brown paper bags?

Add that to the prohibition on selling alcohol on Sundays as another archaic alcohol law that needs to be repealed.

Comments

[Bundy & Coke on 25.03.06 at 23:35]

The crazy thing with the Sunday law is that you can buy alcohol in the bars - so it is OK to get completely off your face, so long as you pay excessive prices to do so. It is a relic that is related to the lack of separation of church & state.

[Full Fullish on 26.03.06 at 07:34]

It may have been the vintage of the wine as well. ;)

I think it's absurd not to be able to purchase alcohol on Sunday's. Chalk up another one for the churches.

[ParadiseFound on 26.03.06 at 10:55]

I always wondered about those brown paper bags as well. But I like them so much I decided to keep them on - I don't take the wine out of the bag, and drink it straight from the neck. OK, so I may look like an old wino to some people, but the joke's on them because they don't know it's a $50 botlle of wine I am chugging down. Well, either that or I'm just an alcoholic. The best thing to do is to give up wine.

And that Sunday rule is plain silly - not because I can't buy alcohol in the supermarket on a Sunday, but mainly because it obviously causes the supermarkets so many issues coming up with an effective way to cordon off their alcoholic supplies from the general public. None of them seem to be able to do it successfully - draping your dirty bedsheets over a couple of bottles of cheap plonk doesn't really project a great image to me.

[Martin on 26.03.06 at 13:24]

I suspect the brown paper bag is cosmetic, i.e. it is there to ensure that those who do not drink the devil's poison are not offended by the sight of it.

[NoVote on 26.03.06 at 13:44]

So, figure this.

You can't buy wine from a supermarket on Sunday, but you can sop up at Church on Sunday morning during Communion.

You know it makes sense!!!!

[Two Cents on 26.03.06 at 15:02]

"You can't buy wine from a supermarket on Sunday, but you can sop up at Church on Sunday morning during Communion"

But don't you hate it when the vicar gets so angry, when you've had Communion 27 times, just to get your fill of cheap wine

[Amin Swan on 26.03.06 at 16:59]

Beleive it or not, here in Georgia (Including the City of Atlanta) the law is the same - no Alcohol on Sunday, so you better stock up on Sat. before midnight.

[NoVote on 26.03.06 at 19:17]

Finally, we've found something that's worth having a referendum about!

[Linda on 26.03.06 at 20:16]

Doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The brown bag is an obvious giveaway, and you can go to most private clubs on a Sunday and start getting tanked from 10.00am. It's not an island thing either, on a trip to Barbados we found little convenience stores where you could get anything from aspirin to Rum on a Sunday. Really is time to do away with this old rule.

[Monique on 26.03.06 at 21:30]

I was going to post about being in Atlanta and not being able to buy wine. I have been caught making that last minute dash to the 'package' store on Saturday nights for some wine or beer.

Mind you, it doesn't seem that long ago that in Ontario you couldn't buy alcohol or beer on Sundays -- except in cottage country. It was okay to enjoy a cold one or two while at the cottage but not at home in the big city.

[YR5 on 27.03.06 at 05:16]

Not being able to buy alcohol on a Sunday is not that bad. I lived in Jersey C.I. for seven years and it was (and is still) illegal to dance on s Sunday.

Night Clubs and discos still open but if you dance the bouncers will physically restrain you and throw you out if necessary.

[ice_cube on 27.03.06 at 08:00]

Brown paper bags hmmph, I only wonder if I smoked my fat spliff in brown paper would it go unseen by the law...

I don't know if we are still tagging behind France for the #1 spot for the land with the most alcoholics. Call it control if you will but, I for one have never drank out of a paper bag regardless of the name of the day and sure as hell ain't planning on starting. I like my cold ones cold and naked as the day they were born.

[TJL on 27.03.06 at 09:00]

Before getting all uppity about this, has anyone actually checked with an official source that this IS the law? I can easily see it just being an urban myth perpetuated amongst the supermarket staff because nobody bothers to find out.

[observor on 27.03.06 at 09:20]

TJL - Agreed

I thought the brown paper bag was to aid in preventing the bottle from breaking ... especially if you just happen to be purchasing ... ahem ... more than one bottle at a time ...

[loki on 27.03.06 at 09:41]

"Before getting all uppity about this, has anyone actually checked with an official source that this IS the law? I can easily see it just being an urban myth perpetuated amongst the supermarket staff because nobody bothers to find out."

It is an urban myth. Guys who want to drink alcohol in public make sure that they purchase their drinks in paper bags so that the police can't see what they are drinking - as drinking alcohol in public is an offence. They've been doing this for so long that many people assume either that it's legal to drink in public so long as the bottle is covered up, or that it is illegal to carry an uncovered bottle of alcohol in public. It's just turned into an urban myth that many people, the management of supermarkets included, assume is true. I had the same experience as Phil at White's supermarket, but gave up arguing with the cashier when she informed me that the management there had ordered the cashiers to ensure that all bottles of alcohol were sold in bags.

[SmokingGun on 27.03.06 at 11:20]

So brown bagging it to work doesn't mean I get to drink on the job?

Actually I think there's one guy who has the whole island sewn up with supplying the stores with brown bags. He's probably the one behind the myth.

[Bermuda 4u on 27.03.06 at 15:10]

And would that man be Dr Brown by any chance? Terrible, sorry.

[19th Hole on 28.03.06 at 00:35]

All,
Always remember....I'm not an alcoholic...I'm a drunk! Alcoholics go to meetings!!!!