Should we bring back happy hour? (Boston: to buy, school, college)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by OtterTrees

I went to undergrad in a neighboring state. Rented a beach shack with friends so I worked waiting tables. Happy hour basically attracted all the cheap people who made a mess and either left quarter or no tip at all. And seemed mostly to be obnoxious drunks. The exception was Fridays when many good customers stopped by to start off the weekend with friends or coworkers.

Given the popularity of happy hour elsewhere, it's clearly working for many bars and restaurants all over the world. And if certain bars have an issue with the crowds they're drawing, they have the option not to participate. But for many places happy hour specials lead to increased sales volume at off-peak times which is generally a good thing for business.

[chicagoliz]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

My wife and I keep remarking about how much less money we're spending now that we don't leave the house. We eat lunch home everyday and we never go out to dinner, the movies, etc. We don't take the kids to the zoo, the trampoline park, etc. Basically, we just buy groceries and alcohol.

Generally, yes. But I'm spending WAY more on groceries -- any time it's possible for me to get a delivery time or on the very rare occasions I do venture out, I get a ton of stuff and spend the comparable ton of money. Especially with my husband and older son all day, they eat all breakfasts at home, all lunches at home, all snacks at home, whereas they used to eat a lot of those things while they were out at work or school. So, clearly we're saving money by them not buying stuff while out, but they were the ones buying those things, whereas now I'm buying the food for the house and I feel like I am constantly ordering some kind of food.

Originally Posted by MikePRU

They really should allow stores to sell alcohol at whatever time they want. It's ridiculous when you walk into a store on a Sunday morning and they have the area with the alcohol roped off. If you're going to allow supermarkets now to sell liquor then you should allow them to sell at any hour they're open.

Pretty sure it's 100% legal right now to have appetizer specials during happy hour. It just can't require the purchase of a drink.

This was always so ridiculous. Eons ago, I went to college in MO, and I remember at the grocery store they would rope off the liquor area and shut the lights in that section of the store at midnight on Saturday night (or technically Sunday morning) because you weren't allowed to buy alcohol on Sunday. (Or it could have been until a certain time on Sunday, but I think it was all day.) And that was so ridiculous. But on the plus side, any alcohol you wanted was conveniently available at the grocery store -- any grocery store you wanted, practically, and it was beer, wine, liquor. But in some other states, you could only buy alcohol at certain stores, sometimes state-run, and they had limited hours, and it was a pain in the ash if you were having a party or something and would have to go to a minimum of three different places.

[mdovell]

I recall there was some county in NY or NJ that had overlapping blue laws. Pretty much people wouldn't have to work the days. It was diverse so frankly the Catholics didn't work Sundays, Jews didn't work Saturdays and Muslims didn't work Fridays. So in some industries it was closed three days out of the week dramatically consolidating traffic to the other four days. In a sense it is a bit odd to designate one day and have it fixed as it obviously had a preference to a certain creed. I think NH had a law of one day of rest but it didn't have to be Sunday.

There's also a ballot measure for this fall that would expand alcohol retailers. What's the issue? Well if that passes it means marijuana licenses automatically can go up since it's linked to it.

Personally I know what alcohol can do. I know people that have had DUI's, alcoholics and know of people lost in drunk driving accidents. I also know people in the restaurant industry that are hurting. If someone enjoys a drink with a meal they aren't chugging the thing. Suppressing something can make it worse. It's like the kid that never had a drink going up doing keg stands at a frathouse. I've been to Europe a few times and frankly it isn't that big of a deal to have a drink. Then again they have much larger public transit set of systems. There's a difference between someone drinking to get drunk vs appreciating the quality of the drink itself.

[johngolf]

I need a drink!!!!!!!

[Boston Shudra]

Originally Posted by MikePRU

He's referring to the limited number of liquor licenses in each city/town.

Originally Posted by jayrandom

Sales start at 10 on Sunday instead of 8 like every other day. Back when I went to the grocery store early on Sunday morning it was annoying. It’s not that I need (or even drink) alcohol from 8-10AM, but it means I have to shop when things are more crowded.

And I meant the license restrictions on each license holder, but per town limits seem like a good thing to remove, too.

Ah, yes. I disagree with both of these.

[GeoffD]

You’re never going to get a repeal past MADD. “My child was killed by a drunk driver” is really effective in state legislatures.

Hopefully, autonomous vehicles will make the law moot in another 20 years.

[bizcuit]

Another thing is, Happy Hour was outlawed during a time when ride shares were not a thing.

[Shrewsburried]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

You’re never going to get a repeal past MADD. “My child was killed by a drunk driver” is really effective in state legislatures.

Hopefully, autonomous vehicles will make the law moot in another 20 years.

These days, I'm much more concerned with being struck by a mobile phone user. From what I've seen on the road, they're objectively worse than your average 2-3 rounder.

[jayrandom]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

You’re never going to get a repeal past MADD. “My child was killed by a drunk driver” is really effective in state legislatures.

Hopefully, autonomous vehicles will make the law moot in another 20 years.

Wow, it's another battle of 'muh freedom' vs. 'nothing is worth risking one single life'.

[CrowGirl]

I've lived in six different states and one foreign country and MA has been the only one to prohibit happy hour. I've never understood it. As previous posters have said, those who will drink and drive will do that regardless. There is good public transport here - troubled as it may be it is better than most places I have lived - so it really seems antiquated. It may be a good way for the Commonwealth to jump start some of these businesses when the time comes.