Ol’ George #12: Sober-ish

 Ol’ George #12: Sober-ish.

Notes on #12:

1. I hate “Dry January”. It’s a stupid trend, and I hate those. I don’t hate drinking in moderation and I certainly don’t hate not drinking or quitting drinking. This thing of taking the first 31 days of the year off, then resuming is non-sensical. Are you doing it just to prove you can? Then do a full week every other week. Do every other day. Do Dry February. March. Even, if you can imagine it, August. But, January? Are you kidding?

January is the worst month for bars, brewery taprooms, restaurants for many reasons. The cold, the dark, seasonal depression, tight budgets after holiday spending, …so many things make January a hard month for bar industry staff. And you want to add another reason for making things slow at your favorite bar/brewery/restaurant? That’s unnecessarily cruel. 

If you return to see your favorite bartender or server on February 1, and say “sorry, we were doing Dry January”, that doesn’t help them pay their bills. Maybe you did visit them, but chose NA options. Well, that’s cool. You ate and tipped? All good. 

2. These two do not enter the club of George’s drinking buddies. They’re not drinking. Tom Waits and Snoopy did enter the club. You don’t have to be drinking alcohol to be a George drinking buddy. I really don’t know what they were doing. Slurping from the water cooler? I’m not giving them names, they’re terrible people.