The Dallas Morning News is reporting a shocking claim today on their website. Apparantly the new TABC "Booze Patrol" is not good for Dallas tourist-marketing. I would have never guessed it!! (as the sarcasm drips from my fingers)
For those of you who are not current on your DFW drinking-laws, which probably once again makes you a better person than I am, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission has come up with a new gimmick for keeping our streets safe from drunk drivers. They are now sending undercover officers into bars and arresting people for public-intoxication, even if they have not left the friendly confines of said bar. I'm not joking. This is something of a precedent setting move on the part of Dallas, and not surprisingly the national attention is not terribly friendly towards this idea. Thus, the department of tourism is worried about losing conventions and the like due to fear of potential arrests. Here is my question, did they not see this coming? Of course people would be worried about hosting large groups of businessmen and women who might accidentally have a few too many and end up in the pokey next to some hooker or drug dealer.
Interesting dilemma, if you ask me. It is obviously a good idea to rid the city of needless traffic deaths due to inebriation, but this seems invasive at best. Sure, it is a strict, literal interpretation of Texas law, but is it possibly taking it a bit too far. Bars are built around drinking, and shouldn't they be a safe-haven for those who drink to remain until sober enough to drive home? I know, I know, I know, as a Christian I should tow the line, proclaiming drunkeness to be a sin deserving whatever punishment may come. I can't be that big a hypocrite, though (at least not today). Were it not for the safety of a bar in which to sober-up, I might have been tempted to get in my car and attempt to drive home a few times when I know I should not have.
Will fear of arrest cause others to act in such a way? Is this a good idea that will help curb drunk-driving? Will Laura Miller's helmet-hair protect her from a motorcycle wreck? Is this overstepping the bounds of the spirit of the law? I don't know, but I thought it worth mentioning.
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