Jun 22 2008
Welcome to Charleston: Now Entering a No Fun Zone
For centuries, Charleston’s image has been the very portrait of Southern charms — moonlight, magnolias and mint juleps.
Well, at least we still have the moonlight and magnolias.
In the past year, Charleston police have cracked down on drinking in public. You can’t take your beer on the sidewalk in front of A.C.’s when you need a smoke, or stand on the corner with a cold one on a Saturday night. And the days when you could walk The Battery on a warm summer evening with a chilled glass of wine are gone with the wind.
Better keep your rum punch on the porch.
Last year, police curtailed tailgating at Citadel football games. Since then, they have turned the annual downtown art walk into a staggered event — you can’t carry your wine from one gallery to the next. And now, police say Dave Matthews fans won’t be able to grill out or sit on their cars drinking beer in public parking lots before the band’s July Fourth show at Riley Park.
It’s about time they started cracking down on those belligerent art goers. Do you see how out of control they are, blustering about from gallery to gallery with their Sauvignon Blanc, leaving bedlam and pandemonium in their wake? Praise be to God that Charleston has a police chief like Greg Mullen with the courage and the foresight to protect us from these artsy troublemakers.
Are you kidding me??
Go over to Europe. People walk down the streets over there with alcohol in their hand and nobody gives a damn because it’s NOT A BIG DEAL! I spent time in Germany a few years ago and people drink on the street. They drink on the subway. They drink on the bus. It’s not a problem. And….. you better sit down for this one….. they can buy it when they’re 16 years old. GASP!
For a nation that touts itself as the Land of the Free we sure have a hell of a lot of restrictions that most other nations don’t.
[...] wrote a few weeks back about Charleston Police Chief Greg Mullen’s crackdown on outdoor alcohol [...]