Beer Garden

I walked pass the infamous beer garden a few times during Arkalalah. Except for the liquor store signs on the outside, there was little evidence that alcohol was being consumed. I don't drink and did not go inside the marked off area. But there were quite a few people inside.

From the moral outrage in letters to the editor proceeding Arkalalah, I half expexted see people doing keg stands and running down the street shouting "I'm drunk as a monkey."

I wonder whether the anger about this will spill over into city commission elections in 2009. I expect not because that's a long time off. I also expect not because my guess, and it's only a a guess, is that most people supported or didn't care about the city approving a place where adults can drink beer during the event. The Traveler poll showed more than 60 percent felt this way, and I suspect it's even higher because people who don't care probably didn't even vote.

The letters in the paper, however, ran at least 3 to 1 against the beer garden. The letters supporting the garden, or at least saying it was not a big deal, seem to arrive toward the end of the debate. Personally, I was glad to see them because I think the outrage was a bit over the top ....