Sunday Alcohol Sales in MN (Wilder: quality of life, living in, cost)

[davephan]

Originally Posted by TurquoiseSky

I agree. I moved here two years ago from Florida where wine and beer are sold in grocery stores, and hard liquor is sold in liquor stores. I won't go into these creepy Minnesota liquor stores. What i can't get from Trader Joes, I just don't drink anymore.

We find it's something to get accustomed to seeing liquor for sale in grocery stores when visiting Florida, but it won't take long to get used to having a liquor section in grocery stores after we move to Florida. I don't find the liquor stores in Minnesota to be creepy. Maybe you need to go to the liquor stores in the suburbs, in nicer areas of the city, instead of the core cities in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Why did you move from Florida to Minnesota? There's positive and negative things about living anywhere. The long cold and snowy Minnesota winters are a big negative in Minnesota, except for a very tiny number of people who actually like cold and snow. Although, winters are much more mild the past 20 years than they were 20 to 60 years ago. We're stuck in Minnesota until we sell our house and I retire. Then we'll move to SW Florida.

[Glenfield]

This is a very nice store. They have a fantastic cheese shop, too. . Lake Wine And Spirits | Uptown, Minneapolis | Your Uptown Liquor Store Providing So Much More

[Lodestar]

Most of the people in MN don't abuse alcohol but the people who do abuse it to the tune of eight billion dollars worth to the taxpayers (the last time statistics were made available.) Those are also probably the people who are capable of planning ahead for their responsible alcohol use. And their occasional Sunday without alcohol probably isn't considered a total disaster.


Here we are, home of the Mayo clinic and the first good treatment centers for alcoholism, and we have one of the highest consumption rates in the U.S. This is something nobody wants to address even though alcoholism affects nearly every one of us in some negative way.


I know I sound like a party pooper but it's not a moral issue. It's a public health issue. And I'm not sure what the solution is to the death and destruction this addiction has done to our society. Most people having a beer in front of the game on Sunday have no idea of its scope and they join the abusers in that lack of recognition.


Sometimes I'm sorry that I do have that information. My work gave me a front row seat into MN citizens' homes and the picture, when combined with too much alcohol, is an ugly one. And all you need is that one out of ten who doesn't know when to stop (every family's got one) to light the fuse.


So for me having the stores open so people can buy alcohol one more day of the week is like sitting on the deck of the Titanic and hoping to see a couple of icebergs.


Who do you think needs to have the most constant access?

[HighFlyingBird]

Originally Posted by Lodestar

Most of the people in MN don't abuse alcohol but the people who do abuse it to the tune of eight billion dollars worth to the taxpayers (the last time statistics were made available.) Those are also probably the people who are capable of planning ahead for their responsible alcohol use. And their occasional Sunday without alcohol probably isn't considered a total disaster.


Here we are, home of the Mayo clinic and the first good treatment centers for alcoholism, and we have one of the highest consumption rates in the U.S. This is something nobody wants to address even though alcoholism affects nearly every one of us in some negative way.


I know I sound like a party pooper but it's not a moral issue. It's a public health issue. And I'm not sure what the solution is to the death and destruction this addiction has done to our society. Most people having a beer in front of the game on Sunday have no idea of its scope and they join the abusers in that lack of recognition.


Sometimes I'm sorry that I do have that information. My work gave me a front row seat into MN citizens' homes and the picture, when combined with too much alcohol, is an ugly one. And all you need is that one out of ten who doesn't know when to stop (every family's got one) to light the fuse.


So for me having the stores open so people can buy alcohol one more day of the week is like sitting on the deck of the Titanic and hoping to see a couple of icebergs.


Who do you think needs to have the most constant access?

Where? I was helping a friend and didn't find anything all that great.

[Lodestar]

Originally Posted by HighFlyingBird

Where? I was helping a friend and didn't find anything all that great.

As I mentioned in my post MN was historically a leader in the treatment for alcoholism. From 1948 to 1950 units were opened in Willmar State Hospital, Pioneer House and Hazelden. Most states were still in the Dark Ages of treatment at this time.


All in all it seems to me there has been an undue amount of press and consternation about Sunday sales for something that shouldn't seem that important to most people.

[HighFlyingBird]

Originally Posted by Lodestar

As I mentioned in my post MN was historically a leader in the treatment for alcoholism. From 1948 to 1950 units were opened in Willmar State Hospital, Pioneer House and Hazelden. Most states were still in the Dark Ages of treatment at this time.


All in all it seems to me there has been an undue amount of press and consternation about Sunday sales for something that shouldn't seem that important to most people.

Pretty sure MN stayed in the slightly-post dark ages of rehab. Even mayo is terrible.

[gweilo845]

Rehab of any kind is notoriously ineffective.


And if you think hardcore alcoholics weren't drinking on Sundays just because they couldn't buy liquor at stores, you're mistaken. They would either go to bars (which can lead to more drinking and driving) or resort to using things like Listerine or cough syrup. It was an outdated law based on religion and should have been done away with a long time ago.

[TurquoiseSky]

Originally Posted by Lodestar

Most of the people in MN don't abuse alcohol but the people who do abuse it to the tune of eight billion dollars worth to the taxpayers (the last time statistics were made available.) Those are also probably the people who are capable of planning ahead for their responsible alcohol use. And their occasional Sunday without alcohol probably isn't considered a total disaster.

Oh please. My parents are both alcoholics. They never run out of booze. Stores being closed on Sundays makes no damn difference to these types of people because they stock up or spend all day at the bar.

Originally Posted by Lodestar

Who do you think needs to have the most constant access?

This is America, a free country (supposedly), not soviet Russia. What gives the government the right to tell businesses what days or hours they should be open? Are you telling me you don't believe in freedom?

[TurquoiseSky]

Originally Posted by davephan

We find it's something to get accustomed to seeing liquor for sale in grocery stores when visiting Florida, but it won't take long to get used to having a liquor section in grocery stores after we move to Florida. I don't find the liquor stores in Minnesota to be creepy. Maybe you need to go to the liquor stores in the suburbs, in nicer areas of the city, instead of the core cities in the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Why did you move from Florida to Minnesota? There's positive and negative things about living anywhere. The long cold and snowy Minnesota winters are a big negative in Minnesota, except for a very tiny number of people who actually like cold and snow. Although, winters are much more mild the past 20 years than they were 20 to 60 years ago. We're stuck in Minnesota until we sell our house and I retire. Then we'll move to SW Florida.

I moved here to make a living (Florida pays pathetic wages and benefits, plus has a high cost-of-living). I've been here for two years, and it was a great decision. The winters aren't that bad since I park in a garage, and the winters here are much shorter than the summers in Florida. I'm one of those weirdos who loves cold weather so that works for me! Plus, life without the leaves changing is just sad. Good luck in SW Florida, I think it's an awful place but to each his own.

It was very annoying to have one day a week where I can't buy wine. Glad that's over! Another dopey religiously based mumbo-jumbo law dies.

[TurquoiseSky]

Originally Posted by HighFlyingBird

Pretty sure MN stayed in the slightly-post dark ages of rehab. Even mayo is terrible.

As a former Mayo nurse who treated detoxing patients, I disagree. Mayo nurses stay by patients in a one-on-one in the room to constantly reassess the patient and keep them safe while they detox. Mayo has protocols for detoxing, including medications to administer immediately to prevent complications like seizure. Try detoxing in a hospital in Florida, where they just tie you to the bed and check on you once an hour (I was a nurse there too, that's the dark ages!)