blind pig (N. Amer. informal) - noun - a place where alcoholic drinks are sold illegally (Lexico.com)
Here's another term I've never heard used, and I live in North America, which doesn't mean I have had no experience with one, though. I must admit that the mere thought of one does take me back to my adolescence when the drinking age in New Jersey was eighteen. As I turned eighteen just after the Vietnam War ended, the government felt that if members of my generation could be drafted, then we could surely be responsible enough to drink moderately and responsibly. Obviously, the lawmakers possessed not a modicum of common sense. Nor did they understand human nature.
However, bar owners of the seventies capitalized on the legislation, opening up secondary shops with entertainment to draw in legals and illegals alike. There was one drinking establishment called "The Old Straw Hat" just off a pretty dangerous highway, nicknamed the "Double Deuce," that was definitely a blind pig: they got away with serving fifteen, sixteen, and seventeen year olds in addition to the legit eighteen year olds. It is no wonder I lost a friend to cirrhosis last year. At present, another has it and the psychosis associated with it. (He is convinced he is a rock star.) Perhaps my friends would have become alcoholics sans the blind pigs of the era. I don't know. But let me say that the blind pigs didn't help. Which is probably why the drinking age in most states has since been elevated to 21. The way people drink these days, I doubt that the drinking age will be lowered any time soon. (It also helps that there is no longer a draft. Thank Goodness for small favors.)
Many are using the pandemic as an excuse to imbibe more booze. If you are one of these people, please curtail your bad habit. Those of us who have already don't want to go to any more funerals involving alcohol. We love you too much to lose you prematurely.
It's Monday. Start the work week off right.
No comments:
Post a Comment