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In prison you spend your time inside bars thinking about getting out, while at work you spend your time thinking about getting out so you can go inside bars
Ok, now this is just going too far! Many people enjoy going out for a good drink after work. You can count me among those people - “happy hour” is happy for a reason. And sure, sometimes I may drink a little excessively and wind up getting a tad blotto. But to those who would object I say: (a) I’m an attorney, and law school teaches you more about drinking than about the law; (b) as Bobby Brown so eloquently put it, it’s my prerogative; and (c) it’s not like I’m drinking while I’m working.
But out in Oregon, the Public Commission on the Oregon Legislature just can’t let people have any fun. On Monday, they adopted a recommendation calling for all state legislators and staff members to avoid drinking or getting drunk after work. That’s just un-American!
Uh…what’s that? The recommendation is that legislatures shouldn’t get drunk while working? Oh, er, never mind then.
So yeah, apparently the president of Crime Victims United was meeting with a legislator to advocate for tougher DUI penalties, while said legislator’s breath was fuming of booze. That was the impetus for this recommendation. Trouble is, the Commission is leaving it up to the legislators to draft their own rules regarding the issue. Why is that legislators seem to be one of the only broad class of people in this country who get to make all the rules about themselves and their pay and what they can and can’t do, with virtually no oversight? If I had that kind of power, I’d probably be drinking on the job too….
Comments
Ha. I'd love to hear the laugh track that bill would get if proposed in Massachusetts. The State House is directly across the street from a bar called the 21st Amendment and there are about five more bars within a few minutes' walking distance. A few years back there was a bit of a fuss when a legislator rolled a keg into his office for a late-night budget session and when the Speaker tried gaveling the House to order, reps started chanting "Toga, toga!" Google it if you don't believe me. The 21st is one of my favorite bars in the world (it's Cheers, minus the tourist schlock) and I can tell you that if governing under the influence were a crime th entire government of Mass. (minus Mitt) would be in jail. Then again maybe not such a bad idea!
Posted by the snob | May 25, 2006 2:05 PM
I don't attend a law school as prestigious as the one you did (trust me, it's true!) but dang, I wish they would focus more on the whole "bar" thing. We had a couple of "reviews" during the 1st semester, and then cold turkey! Now that summer is right around the corner, don't they realize that law students' thirst (for knowledge and PBR) is much greater?
Posted by frustrated with sobriety | May 25, 2006 4:50 PM
I think in the first week of school, we had a "talk" about the seriousness of alcohol abuse, and then we had a keg on campus provided by our SBA. And then the weekly Thursday night bar reviews began, and my liver will never be the same...
Posted by quiz law helps me procrastinate on my write-on | May 26, 2006 2:15 AM