Good Dryday

[fragger]

It's Easter Friday here in Oz, or "Good Friday", and as usual for this time of the year, it's sinking hot, so at about 3:00pm today I decided to go to the local liquor store and pick up a six-pack of nice cold beer, as I often do on a hot Friday "arvo" (afternoon).

I totally forgot that almost all stores are closed on this day, including said liquor store (or "bottle-o", to throw in another bit of local jargon) because it's a public holiday. Even the big supermarkets are closed today, even though they're open every other day of the year, including Christmas day - another "Christian" public holiday. Apparently it's okay to trade (and sell grog) on the Guy's birthday, but not on the day of His resurrection.

No worries, I thought to myself, I'll drive down to the local bowling club (lawn bowls that is, not ten-pin) where they have a large bar and an adjoining bottle-o. No joy - the bar was open for biz, but no take-away sales were allowed.

I had one option left - a tavern just outside my little town. Once again, the bar was open, so I went in and asked the guy if the bottle shop was also open. He said, "No mate - no takeaway sales are allowed on Good Friday. You can stay and have a beer if you want though". Well, no, I said, I'm here by myself, which isn't much fun, and besides, I'm driving.

So, let me get this straight: I can buy liquor and drink it in a pub on Good Friday, but I'm not allowed to buy liquor to take home (I'll point out too that the bars are open until 10:00pm - plenty of time to get well and truly sozzled if you're so inclined). Many stores that are open on other public holidays like Christmas and ANZAC Day are not open on Good Friday. In the case of bottle shops, it's not by choice - they are not allowed to vend liquor by law on this day. Easter Sunday and Monday - no problem, they can sell as much booze as they like on those days.

That's ridiculous. I don't care a whit about not getting the beer, it's not like I'm desperate for it or anything. But what I do care about is being subjected to the tenets of other peoples' belief systems. I am NOT a Christian - in fact, I'm not anything when it comes to religion. I have my beliefs, but I'm not what you would call a devout follower of any mainstream theology. So why am I forced to abide by a particular religion's abstinence rules? I should be allowed to buy some beer on what would otherwise be an ordinary trading day - or ice cream, or a shirt, or a pack of screws, or any other bloody thing. If people want to abstain from alcohol on Good Friday, that's their right. If I want to buy grog to drink at home on the same day, that should be my right (I don't get drunk, but I should be allowed to get totally legless in my own home if I so choose, no matter what flipping day of the week it is). I don't tell other people how to live or what not to do on what days.

I can understand having public holidays to commemorate events that are pertinent to our history - Australia Day, ANZAC day, and the like. But why do we have to have special days set aside (and trading hours restrictions applied) for a religion that only a portion of the population subscribes to? Stores don't close for Ramadan, Yom Kippur, or Maha Shivaratri, nor do those events warrant public holidays, yet those days are important for the followers of the associated faiths who also live here. It's totally absurd to me.

What it also silly to me is that if the day of the resurrection is so important, why isn't it observed on the date when it actually happened, instead of on the nearest Friday on the calendar? That too makes the whole thing a farce, as far as I'm concerned.

So, to summarize: on Good Friday, I can buy booze in the pub and drink it there, but I can't buy the exact same booze to bring home and drink it here. I will never get the reasoning there. But I do know what I will get - a six-pack of Cooper's Sparkling Ale on Saturday arvo. Just try and stop me, bible people.

[Art Blade]

here it's even more restrictive. Shops are closed Friday, Sunday and Monday. Naturally, a lot of people start to squirrel away on Thursday but they go ballistic on Saturday in a way you'd think they were afraid of never being able to buy anything ever again. Same goes for Christmas when shops are open only on December 24th (if it's a working day which includes Saturdays) and only until like 2.00 PM and then two bank holidays, so people are going completely bonkers regarding squirreling away food. Supermarkets are then crammed like a Tokyo underground at rush hour.

Like fragger, I am free of any religion, I don't really care about that. In my case, I profit from those bank holidays because I don't have to w0#k on those. So I can live with the fact that shops are closed. I am not aware of laws here that prohibit bars or restaurants to sell alcohol to take away as I've never tried that. The situation in Australia as described above indeed seems more than awkward to me -- a bottle shop, connected to a bar, is closed but the bar is open, yet they must not sell alcohol to take away.

Anyway.. I'm enjoying a good cup of espresso right now and for the rest of the day, as usual, I stick to mineral water.

[Dweller_Benthos]

I think today there isn't anything special going on if you're not the type who goes to church. Sunday is the big day though, but again, I don't think there's any special restrictions otherwise. Since I don't buy alcohol of any kind, I never notice if, when and where it's available.

[PZ]

So, let me get this straight: I can buy liquor and drink it in a pub on Good Friday, but I'm not allowed to buy liquor to take home ...

I think the Oz pub lobby has managed to bribe their way to that legislation, fragger 

[fragger]

No, I don't think so, PZ - unless you mean they bribed someone to be open at all, in which case, I wouldn't be at all surprised Since pretty much all pubs in Oz have an adjoining bottle shop, they would stand to make more money if they were allowed to sell take-away alcohol as well as be open on Good Friday. I don't know how it got started, but I think it goes back a long way, all the way back to the beginning. Sales of alcohol on Good Friday have long been banned in Ireland too, and since a great many freed convicts and early settlers in Australia were of Irish descent, we probably inherited it from them.

There are moves afoot to change it. But really, alcohol should be either available normally on a "holy" day, or not at all. As it is, it's just silly that I can buy and drink on the premises but I can't buy and bring home. If anything, it should be the other way around.

On a bit of a side topic, I mentioned supermarkets in my last post and how they too are closed on GF. I didn't bring that up in relation to alcohol sales, just as a point of interest. One thing that struck me when I was in Hawaii (which is as close to the US mainland as I have ever gotten) was how I could buy alcohol in supermarkets and even in some convenience stores like 7-Elevens (although I believe it's a state-specific thing). In Oz, you can't. You can only buy alcohol from either alcohol-licensed premises, i.e. pubs and clubs (which is why nearly all of them have an adjoining bottle shop), licensed restaurants (no take-aways from them though), or from dedicated liquor stores, which have no provision for on-premises drinking and where you can only buy take-away.

The reasoning for not allowing supermarkets, convenience stores and petrol stations to sell alcohol is that it helps combat underage drinking, and I think there is truth to that. There are moves afoot to change that too, but they're meeting with stiff opposition and I personally hope it doesn't happen. There are more than enough alcohol outlets already.

Btw, we also have 7-Elevens here, but they can't sell grog. Burger King has to trade in Oz as "Hungry Jack's" because when they wanted to begin operating here, the name "Burger King" had already been registered as a trade name by a single take-away food store in Adelaide. Hungry Jack's still has the same food and the "Burger King" logo is similar but different, and of course with different words inside the bun. Bit of pointless trivia McDonald's, KFC, Pizza Hut and all the rest are still the same.

[Art Blade]

very interesting read, fragger. Here we can buy alcohol virtually everywhere and at any time. Hence it wouldn't occur to anyone to buy a bottle from a bar or restaurant or club to take away because it's way cheaper everywhere else.

[PZ]

Just kidding fragger; applying American lobbyist special interests to the situation. 

[Dweller_Benthos]

Yeah alcohol sales here vary from state to state. Here in New York, you can buy beer and sometimes wine in the grocery store, convenience stores only sell beer, and if you want hard liquor, you have to go to a dedicated liquor store. You can also buy beer in the grocery store on Sunday, where in other states I've been to, you can't, or have to wait until after noon to buy, I guess so you're not drunk when you go to church, or some such reasoning. That's mostly down south, where they also have large sections of the grocery store for wine, where here in NY you might have a few bottles mixed in with the beer, probably due to alcohol content.

[PZ]

I can echo that - here in Idaho you can only purchase hard liquor in state stores. Only wine can be sold in grocery and other stores. On the other hand in California you can purchase any kind of alcohol in any store that has a license. Some time ago my son told me that he can purchase a handle of Dewars Scotch at Costco for 1/4 the cost I can get it here at the state sponsored store.