You sit yourself down in a restaurant, a real find, one that has taken you to parts unknown: aka Oak Cliff.
You're exhausted because your GPS was on the fritz and you had to actually ask for directions three times, which violated every man law you hold sacred. You could use a beer or three, something to quench your thirst. A lot.
You order something easy, a Bud Lite, Coors, nothing fancy, but the waiter gives you an odd look and then asks for your driver's license. You haven't been carded since 1988. You don't know whether to be flattered or pissed. As your face registers its confusion, the waiter explains that the restaurant is in a dry area, but no worries, it's also private club and you will have to join if you seek to imbibe freely.
You fill out some bureaucratic paperwork that may or may not work its way into the hands of some Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission agent. And then suddenly you're a member, with all the rights and privileges attendant thereto. Well actually you're just a preliminary member until some phony baloney membership committee, which meets every so often, grants you full membership. That doesn't stop the beer, wine or whatever from flowing, but it does make you wonder if you will have to engage in this mindless exercise the next time you're in this place--or the one next door.
If it was up to the folks at the Progress Dallas, you would wonder no more. They are a PAC of restaurateurs, retailers, grocers, business leaders and spirited residents who are seeking two referendums on the November ballot, one of which is the elimination of the private club requirement in dry areas. Their petition drive actually starts, well, today, and will last 60 days during which time the PAC hopes to collect more than 68,000 signatures. For more info on the whose and whats of the referendum, check out yesterday's post on Unfair Park. Might also click on the Progress Dallas Web site, if you want to lend your name to their cause. Careful though, some teetotaler or worse, tea bagger might accuse you of being a community organizer.
