Cambridge Barhopping
Cambridge, Friday night:
It was hot and a beautiful night. A perfect time to go out for a couple of beers.
When we got to the first pub, a man standing on the door said to me: “identification please”. I didn’t have it with me. We just went out for a walk and I didn’t bring my purse.
The man was asking me for the identification because you have to be older than 21 for get into a bar for a drink.
That situation produced in me different feelings:
FIRST: I was glad that the doormen said I probably was younger than 21. That was great!
SECOND: It upset me because, it was obvious that I was older than 21, Jeremy had his ID and mostly because I JUST WANTED A BEER!
THIRD: Despite the fact that situation upset us, I think this is a good way to prevent younger people from drinking alcohol. But on the other hand, it creates a good business, which is the falsification of ID… I mean anyone with a scanner and a little artistic inspiration can make some money.
As I said, the night was great, warm, full moon… so I suggested having a drink in an open door bar or in one with tables in the street, but… you can’t drink alcohol in the street!! I JUST WANT A BEER!!! I thought.
Finally, we got to a very classic bar, in a basement. It was big, full of tables and pretty cool. There were the beer making machines, and a lot of people happily chatting.
This is great! I thought. Nobody stopped me, and despite the fact that it wasn’t an open place, it was nice and they had a large number of beer varieties.
I asked for the house beer, “John Harvard’s Pale Ale,” and Jeremy asked for “the summer blonde,” which in fact was light and tasteless (as it was easy to imagine with that name…). So finally I drank the blonde and Jeremy mine, which was great.
While I was drinking my beer, I noted something strange… I couldn’t define it at first but, my lungs were happy… there wasn’t any haze… then I realized that the air was fresh! Nobody was smoking!
When I asked why, Jeremy explained to me that there is a new law in Massachusetts that prohibits smoking in public buildings. So if you are in the middle of a very exiting chat, and you want to improve the moment by smoking, well, you have to go upstairs, outside the basement and smoke in the street. How weird!?
Could somebody imagine this in Buenos Aires’ bars?
But the most interesting thing was that anyway everybody apparently was having a good time there.
Everybody older than 21 and with their identification…. Everybody but me.
It was hot and a beautiful night. A perfect time to go out for a couple of beers.
When we got to the first pub, a man standing on the door said to me: “identification please”. I didn’t have it with me. We just went out for a walk and I didn’t bring my purse.
The man was asking me for the identification because you have to be older than 21 for get into a bar for a drink.
That situation produced in me different feelings:
FIRST: I was glad that the doormen said I probably was younger than 21. That was great!
SECOND: It upset me because, it was obvious that I was older than 21, Jeremy had his ID and mostly because I JUST WANTED A BEER!
THIRD: Despite the fact that situation upset us, I think this is a good way to prevent younger people from drinking alcohol. But on the other hand, it creates a good business, which is the falsification of ID… I mean anyone with a scanner and a little artistic inspiration can make some money.
As I said, the night was great, warm, full moon… so I suggested having a drink in an open door bar or in one with tables in the street, but… you can’t drink alcohol in the street!! I JUST WANT A BEER!!! I thought.
Finally, we got to a very classic bar, in a basement. It was big, full of tables and pretty cool. There were the beer making machines, and a lot of people happily chatting.
This is great! I thought. Nobody stopped me, and despite the fact that it wasn’t an open place, it was nice and they had a large number of beer varieties.
I asked for the house beer, “John Harvard’s Pale Ale,” and Jeremy asked for “the summer blonde,” which in fact was light and tasteless (as it was easy to imagine with that name…). So finally I drank the blonde and Jeremy mine, which was great.
While I was drinking my beer, I noted something strange… I couldn’t define it at first but, my lungs were happy… there wasn’t any haze… then I realized that the air was fresh! Nobody was smoking!
When I asked why, Jeremy explained to me that there is a new law in Massachusetts that prohibits smoking in public buildings. So if you are in the middle of a very exiting chat, and you want to improve the moment by smoking, well, you have to go upstairs, outside the basement and smoke in the street. How weird!?
Could somebody imagine this in Buenos Aires’ bars?
But the most interesting thing was that anyway everybody apparently was having a good time there.
Everybody older than 21 and with their identification…. Everybody but me.
previously there was wrong side of the wall
afterwards you have ominous parallels
En Estados Unidos hay una cierta hipocresía que, en mi particular punto de vista, es lo que da cohesión social en la sociedad.
Dejando a un lado el aspecto de salud:
si violamos la norma impuesta, tendremos una sanción;
si desatendemos el deber moral, nuestra conducta será reprochable.
Quien incumple este tipo de deberes recibe una recriminación social o, lo que es más grave, enfrenta el reproche de su conciencia.
Aunque a decir verdad, también se altera el derecho a los fumadores.
Una chela nada más.
Saludos. [submitted on 01 Aug 04]
“asi que”
también revisaría las reglas para el por que, por qué y porque [submitted on 19 Aug 04]
de todas formas y si no estás tan molesto podés dejar tus opiniones sobre el contenido, no? :) [submitted on 19 Aug 04]
El aire que sale del pulmon de alguien que no fuma no hace daño a nadie. El aire que sale del pulmon al expirar la bocanada de la boquilla del cigarro es dañino para el pulmon de la gente que lo rodea al fumador, sin contar el desagradable aroma que impregna la ropa y el cabello.
en ese sentido la civilizacion avanza y
tambien en Buenos aires los restaurantes tienen lugares diferenciados para no fumadores y fumadores, respetando las libertades de cada uno.
Estados unidos como sumum del capitalismo tomas sus decisiones en terminos económicos, y dado el impacto sobre la economia que producen Las patologías neoplasicas por el gasto en salud sobre enfermedades CRONICAS con escasas posibilidades de curacion, ellos deciden muy sabiamente incrementar las medidas preventivas.
Se imaginan la cantidad de recursos que podrían reasignarse para otros tipos de enfermedades, alimentacion y bienestar en salud si lográramos que la gente fumara menos y de esa manera no se gastara tanto dinero en el tratamiento de todos los infartos, los accidentes cerebrovasculares y la perdida en el lucro cesante por hemiplejías y e incapacidad por problemas cardiológicos, de todos los costosísimos tratamientos de quimioterapia y de carísimas cirugías por canceres de pulmón, de laringe o de colon con toda la incapacidad que eso genera?.
Ciertamente, fumadores , piensen dos veces antes de encender su pucho, porque
se ahorran un montón de plata, a ustedes mismos y al sistema de salud que después va a tener que bancarse lo que quede de ustedes sólo por un capricho que se transforma en vicio.
Y a las mujeres fumadoras les cuento que los hombres no tenemos ni cancer de mama, ni cancer de cuello uterino ni de endometrio así que ustedes tienen aún más desventaja. [submitted on 23 Aug 04]
ME OLVIDABA AGUANTE LA CUMBIA
SUERTE PARA TODOS ACA EN PERGAMINO LA CERVAZA ES LO PRIMERO ANTES QUE LA VIDA
BESOS
INDIA
19/11/04 [submitted on 19 Nov 04]