Althouse: "Isn't it wonderful that folks are learning to make their own kicky cocktails at home during the pandemic, and that bars are doing a brisk take-out business?"

April 20, 2020

"Isn't it wonderful that folks are learning to make their own kicky cocktails at home during the pandemic, and that bars are doing a brisk take-out business?"

"Ha, ha, ha, what a cheerful story! Here's the reality: loss of jobs and income, fear, crowding, desperation are causing many people to drink excessively. I can see it at the supermarket: grocery carts crammed with the lowest-price gin and whiskey. What we have here is a new incoming wave of alcohol abuse and addiction. Shame on the WaPo for this idiotic story."

A comment on "Traveling in spirit: How to-go drinks and cocktail kits are letting us escape/And helping bars and restaurants across the United States survive" (WaPo).

56 comments:

Levi Starks said...: If only alcohol could offer escape.; 4/20/20, 8:00 AM
Kai Akker said...: Stupid stupidity. Ha ha, cocktails! Ha ha, bars! Ha ha ha ha!

The cars streaming into parks encourage me. Yesterday, so many people out, just walking pleasant streets. I wonder how much that will stay with people in the future?; 4/20/20, 8:03 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Commenter calls for a presumptive ban on home bartender schooling.; 4/20/20, 8:04 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: The cause of, and solution to, all life's problems!; 4/20/20, 8:04 AM
buwaya said...: We have been making gin and tonics nightly.
I do get ONE drink with this diabetes.

The tonic of course for the sake of the quinine.
Sadly we have run out of tonic water. None to be had here.; 4/20/20, 8:05 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Democracy Drowns in Daquiris.; 4/20/20, 8:07 AM
Darrell said...: Now if they were smoking weed, it would be life-affirming and beautiful.; 4/20/20, 8:08 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: Can’t drink any more because of the infirmities of old age. I sure as hell miss it.

Risk of dying of the virus here in Ulster Co., NY... less than 1 in 10,000!

The legal pot shops in MA are shut down. So, that’s out for the duration, too

What would we do without idiot reporters with causes scolding us? Run amok?

Something like 35,000 “journalists” out of work or facing reduced work as a result of the shutdown. So, something good is coming out of this panic. Our yellow journalists might be moved to find real productive work, instead of inventing panics.; 4/20/20, 8:09 AM
J. Farmer said...: Now if they were smoking weed, it would be life-affirming and beautiful.

Agree about the double standard, and it's annoying the way being pro-weed has almost become some kind of hip virtue signalling for people of a certain age, but on the other hand it is pretty hard to deny that alcohol is a much worse and more destructive drug than marijuana.; 4/20/20, 8:09 AM
Expat(ish) said...: Here in Collier County FL (population 420K, average 50, Covid deaths 7, 23 hospitalizations) there were golf courses PACKED on Saturday at 2pm. It was at least 97 degrees and 100% humidity.

FWIW, booze is always cheap in FL. A handle of Jack is 2/3 the price in NC and about 50% of the price in NYC.

Cheap booze is relative.

_XC; 4/20/20, 8:12 AM
Ken B said...: “ Yesterday, so many people out, just walking pleasant streets. I wonder how much that will stay with people in the future?”

Me too. I was struck by just how much it seemed like my childhood, wandering around: people in their yards, little traffic, people walking in the road. Back in the bad, old, unenlightened times Ms Bartholet would say I'm sure.; 4/20/20, 8:19 AM
Wince said...: I remember as a young kid one alpha-neighbor trying to disguise a snoop session as a sophisticated cocktail party.

I answered the phone when they called to ask my parents why they weren't there.

I called my parents to the phone saying, "It's Mrs. Morash calling from Booze-ville".; 4/20/20, 8:20 AM
Rory said...: It's a very fake comment. People aren't going to the grocery store a lot, when they go they're keeping distance from others. Checkout workers about the only ones who are seeing items close enough to read the labels. So, let's find a grocery checker who is commenting on Post articles under the handle "Marquis de Venosta."; 4/20/20, 8:23 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: All the rich movie stars who invested in booze, need you to keep drinking. Keep drinking!; 4/20/20, 8:26 AM
Rory said...: The obligatory "domestic violence of all types is skyrocketing" comment has now been posted.; 4/20/20, 8:27 AM
GatorNavy said...: Manitowoc minute’s routine about the making of a perfect old fashioned comes to mind.; 4/20/20, 8:28 AM
rehajm said...: ...has almost become some kind of hip virtue signalling for people of a certain age...

It's good hygiene to ignore Farmer but this is amusing- a 'certain' age, i.e. people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s...

There's nothing weed can't fix.; 4/20/20, 8:31 AM
rcocean said...: Wapo NYT and a lot of rich liberal businessmen are part of Big Marijuana and want legalized MJ and plenty of $$$. There's money to be made off potheads. That's why you rarely see anything negative about MJ in these newspapers/magazines.

Plus, many liberal/leftists see booze as a "conservative/white" beverage, unless its expensive wine or Vodka. MJ and Cocaine are OK though.; 4/20/20, 8:34 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Where I live you can get drive-through daiquiris. They have a paper seal on the top so you "can't" drink them in the car, lol. Still open in this time of national emergency, of course.

I personally know three people who were minding their own business when they were killed by drunk drivers - two of whom were teenagers - and one little girl who's had a dozen reconstructive surgeries on her crushed legs, but no one who has covid.

Anecdotes are not data, but are still curious things.; 4/20/20, 8:34 AM
rehajm said...: My huge potent potable discovery in all this: when I pedal to the food truck for a margarita the cup they give me fits perfectly in the water bottle holder on me handlebars...; 4/20/20, 8:35 AM
rcocean said...: I wrote rich liberals, but John boneher form R speaker in on the Board of a Big MJ company, no doubt for lobbying purposes.; 4/20/20, 8:35 AM
rcocean said...: Texas used to be famous for drive-through stores selling alcohol and guns. I'd like to think that was true.; 4/20/20, 8:38 AM
MadisonMan said...: What kind of person watches what is in others' shopping carts and judges them by it? I call BS on the WaPo comment.
I will say that when people block the aisles at Sentry (or WF) as they (1) talk or (2) look over things a fair piece down the aisle, I am always tempted to slip a little extra can of something into their cart just to imagine their reaction when they get home ("Why did I buy this can of tomato sauce?") So far I have not yielded to temptation.; 4/20/20, 8:41 AM
MayBee said...: Meanwhile, AA meetings have been shut down in many states.

Mark Geragos said he may be taking on a case in LA for his friend who has been trying to organize AA meetings that include social distancing, and the cops have been breaking them up.

Not allowing AA meetings is a crime against humanity.; 4/20/20, 8:43 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: It's also common where I live for people without good decision making skills to load up their aging SUVs with children and drive around wasted, and when they crash the unrestrained children wind up dead. This is still happening despite stay at home, although in smaller numbers.

But the dangers of alcohol must be tolerated because Free Society Comes With Risk And Also The Personal Choice at the same time as I have blood on my hands if I want to go to school and work and church at a time when 499 out of 29,000,000 Texans have died of coronavirus.

I'm not saying I want to ban alcohol. I want basically all the risky things to be legal because libertarian. Just a little perspective and a little consistency in risk perception would be great.; 4/20/20, 8:44 AM
J. Farmer said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/20/20, 8:46 AM
J. Farmer said...: It's good hygiene to ignore Farmer but this is amusing- a 'certain' age, i.e. people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s...

There's nothing weed can't fix.

Things like John Boehner becoming a pitchman for the National Institute for Cannabis Investors or the the Public Health Agency of Canada tweeting "Blunts, pipes and spliffs are all ways to smoke #cannabis. Before talking to your teen, get informed: http://ow.ly/RfVl30hyYqM"

Is there a teen alive who wants their parents to talk to them about "spliffs?"; 4/20/20, 8:47 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Is there a teen alive who wants their parents to talk to them about "spliffs?"

lol, and is there a teen alive who doesn't know 10X as much about marijuana as most parents?; 4/20/20, 8:47 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Oh recently and a cop doing a traffic stop on an elevated freeway was hit by a drunk driver and thrown over the side to his death on the pavement below, but, My Right to Drink.

No one says that, but they do say that my quarantine skepticism = 'my rights mean more than someone else's health and safety'; 4/20/20, 8:50 AM
Fernandinande said...: grocery carts crammed with the lowest-price gin and whiskey

The peasants are revolting.; 4/20/20, 8:51 AM
Bob Boyd said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 4/20/20, 8:52 AM
Ryan said...: "An estimated 88,000 people (approximately 62,000 men and 26,000 women) die from alcohol-related causes annually, making alcohol the third leading preventable cause of death in the United States."; 4/20/20, 8:57 AM
Fernandinande said...: Commenter calls for a presumptive ban on home bartender schooling.

That scoundrel!

My home bartending consists of the cheapest margarita mix (26 proof, $9.79 per 1.75) + the cheapest tequila ($21 per 1.75) + the cheapest lime juice ($1 from Wal*mart), so you can flunk out and still drink.; 4/20/20, 8:57 AM
Fernandinande said...: Before talking to your teen, get informed

Me to "teen": 1) Don't get caught. 2) Don't get in a car with an even slightly drunk driver.

Fun fact from somewhere: drivers under 19 years old are twice as likely to cause a fatal accident if they *have a passenger*, vs driving alone. For older people the effect goes away.; 4/20/20, 9:02 AM
rcocean said...: Seems like the Wapo commentator hit a nerve. I've seen people with shopping carts loaded with Food AND 72 bottles of beer or 12 bottles of wine or 4 jugs of Vodka.

Is that for the duration? Or just the weekend? Who knows.; 4/20/20, 9:12 AM
rcocean said...: Alcoholics usually drink Vodka for some reason. Last time we were in Maui, we had an old guy in the next Condo (he owned it, we were renting) who was more or less sloshed by 10 AM every day. His diet was mango/oranges and vodka. Wonder if he's still alive.; 4/20/20, 9:14 AM
dbp said...: I am constantly experimenting with new cocktails, with the understanding that somebody has probably already done each one. Lately a keeper is to take a highball glass, put in one giant ice cube (I use a 2" diameter sphere, which just fits) a small splash of limoncello, one shot of gin (use vodka or white rum if you like) and then fill the rest of the way up with seltzer.; 4/20/20, 9:19 AM
dbp said...: It is a flexible drink: Use tequila instead of gin to accompany Mexican cuisine.; 4/20/20, 9:24 AM
Lurker21 said...: Now that everyone is at home, finding stories for the "Home" section of the newspaper gets harder. Not what one would have expected.; 4/20/20, 9:43 AM
tcrosse said...: A trip to the grocery store is such a big PITA that as long as you're there you might as well stock up. Also, you never know what's going to be on the shelves. Evidently it's much more enlightened to drink only the expensive stuff.; 4/20/20, 10:11 AM
Darkisland said...: Some drugs, and the cult around them, are not only acceptable but cool.

Look at Cheers, for example. A hit show for 8-10 years built around boozing in a bar.

I think there should be a comedy about crack houses.

I really don't care if people drink. As long as they stay out of the car and away from work.

Ditto other drugs.

I don't think they should. I think drugs, including alcohol do an incredible amount of societal harm. Not as much as prohibition, though and everbody should be allowed to go to hell in their own way.

John Henry; 4/20/20, 10:14 AM
daskol said...: Alcoholics usually drink Vodka for some reason.

Ha, so true. It's colorless, and they think, odorless. But it most certainly is not odorless.; 4/20/20, 10:17 AM
Bilwick said...: "Kicky"? Suddenly I feel like I've time-travelled with Austin Powers back to the Playboy Mansion circa 1965. Look--there's Mary Quant frugging with Leroy Neiman!; 4/20/20, 10:39 AM
Bill Peschel said...: So giving people a guaranteed income is not going to create a nation of poets and other creative types, but a nation of drunken layabouts on the dole?

Color me surprised.; 4/20/20, 10:54 AM
Dr Weevil said...: I mentioned this in a comment last week, but it's worth repeating. Drinking liquor is almost certainly way up, but not nearly as much as buying liquor. Some governors have banned liquor sales, though some (most? all?) of those soon backed down and allowed them again. Even non-problem drinkers will likely feel that they're better off buying now than later, because the liquor stores may be closed later, or the selection much reduced.

Similarly, March was reported the best month ever for gun sales. This is no doubt partly because governors are releasing thousands of prisoners, some of them violent, and because hundreds of thousands of high-schoolers are no longer under supervision all day, thus more likely to commit crimes of opportunity. However, a lot of it is because some governors have closed gun shops in their states and others may do so in the future. People are naturally buying guns while they still can. So gun sales are way up, or were in March, though total bullets fired are (I assume) way down.; 4/20/20, 11:04 AM
JohnAnnArbor said...: Isn't it wonderful that, during a freakin' pandemic, such frivolity continues? That it's ABLE to continue?

It shows that we're an advanced society. And that people have time on their hands.

The actual frivolity in this case is a waste of time to me. But people have different priorities.; 4/20/20, 11:05 AM
robother said...: If Marie Antoinette were alive today, she'd be tweeting, "Let them snort Fentanyl." Marx was proven wrong, again: opiates are the opiate of the working classes.; 4/20/20, 11:25 AM
Professional lady said...: I haven't noticed grocery carts loaded up with booze. But I have used the curbside service offered by our local wine shop to pick-up some cognac and port. I'm trying to support our local small businesses as best I can.; 4/20/20, 11:26 AM
JohnAnnArbor said...: I'm trying to support our local small businesses as best I can.

The local wild bird store will deliver birdseed. Really. I found that to be cool, creative and a sign of desperation all at once.; 4/20/20, 11:31 AM
funsize said...: ...people think cocktails are hard to make?

I guess that says something about our culture.; 4/20/20, 12:09 PM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: 'SOMA'

...it's a Fearful New World; 4/20/20, 12:14 PM
Professional lady said...: Yes, curb-side pick-up and delivery services seem a very sensible way to help small businesses survive. If you can do it for booze and groceries, why not be able to order supplies, seeds, etc at the local nursery and pick up your order curbside or have it delivered?; 4/20/20, 12:39 PM
Ken B said...: “ Yes, curb-side pick-up and delivery services seem a very sensible way to help small businesses survive. If you can do it for booze and groceries, why not be able to order supplies, seeds, etc at the local nursery and pick up your order curbside or have it delivered?”

Pretty soon even hookers will be offering curbside pickup.; 4/20/20, 12:42 PM
tcrosse said...: As for that cheap booze crack, the liquor stores here are closed for the duration, and it didn't take long for the supermarkets to run out of the Good Stuff. So it's any Port in a storm, so to speak.; 4/20/20, 2:08 PM
Ken B said...: Ontario has a state liquor monopoly, and nearly one on wine. So the provincial liquor stores are still open.; 4/20/20, 2:57 PM
PluralThumb said...: My grandmother taught me better against alcohol. I drank socially through my 20's. After an experience of content and amount being beyond my better judgment, I then started to limit based on one drink. At times the social aspect was reduced or the drink was prolonged.; 4/20/20, 11:14 PM