Vail Daily letter: Underage stings damaging
Ms. Stecher: I appreciate your point and facts about the recent state liquor compliance check. However, you did not protect the victim.
I disagree with you that compliance checks on restaurants do anything to limit what a minor does or does not do.
The only thing that it does is put fear and anger into the owner of the business and penalize the poor worker that got busted.
I don’t have kids, but if I did and my daughter told me that she was going to dress up as a 35-year-old and go to a restaurant, order a $30 glass of wine and pretend that she was there for dinner, I would tell her, no, that is against the law. You cannot buy liquor, as you are under 21. Her reply is that it is state sanctioned, so it is OK.
Ms. Stecher, if you were going to protect anybody, it should be the girl or guy that is doing this charade. The psychological impact to this young minor is something that should be studied.
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One night she is protected to buy a drink, even though she knows she is breaking the law, but it is OK.
The next night, if she decides to buy a drink, she is now breaking the law.
Also, if she knew of the impact to the business owner, the staff, the suppliers to the business that this penalty could bring, do you think she would feel guilty for deceiving them by impersonating an adult? Heck no. They are told they are not responsible, the parents are told they are not responsible, the 14-year-old kid that is going to be an alcoholic is not responsible.
It is the owner of the establishment to be proven innocent by this test.
I don’t see why it is necessary for a business owner to be penalized to correct poor parenting in instructing their child what is right and what is wrong about buying booze.
Also, I don’t see the argument that an 18-year-old does not have enough wisdom to understand the dangers of alcohol. Is it any different for an 18-year-old volunteering to go to Iraq or Afghanistan to kill.
Actually, I would agree that if you are going to wait until you are 21 to drink, because you now have wisdom, you should also have to wait to be 21 to be sent overseas to kill people.
I am embarrassed for the server that asks for my ID when I buy wine.
Really, I would like to think that they know the difference between a 14-year-old and me.
I am approaching the youth of being 60. How many gray hairs do I have to have or hairs on my head do I have to lose to not be ID’d?
The server is not thinking about my embarrassment for them, or thinking about saving a 14-year-old from drinking. They are just trying to save their job.
Mark Duckett
Eagle