Question Of The Week: Should Children Be Allowed In Bars?

I saw this today on our Twitter network: “World: quit bringing children to bars. I don’t care what time of day or night it is. Inappropriate.”

But in many places around the world (well, Europe, anyway) parents regularly drag their kids to the pub. Prudish Americans think there’s something evil about the practice–proximity to alcohol could only lead kids into a lifetime of vice, right? After all, editing violence from cartoons stopped school shootings a couple decades ago. And shutting down sales of GI Joe dolls…um, action figures…put an end to war.

When kids are in bars, though, parents tend to behave a little better. And as has often been noted, children in Europe grow up with a more responsible attitude toward alcohol…if you don’t include the binge-drinking Brits. So is it really that bad?

Results from last week, in which we asked why people at parties congregate in the kitchen:

More pondering than definitive answering this time around. TLS
sees kitchens as “the great equalizer.” Because every home or apartment
has one, there’s a sense of familiarity to it. Margie counters that
most every place has a living room and (outside of Arkansas) a
bathroom, so why not gather there? The wise luniz believes parties flow
from room to room as people first try to break away from the noise for
a moment only to be joined by others. Kitchens are, therefore, only one
of the places they pause in an evening.

What goes on in
the kitchen? Well, that depends on who hosts the party. As TLS says:
“Food happens in kitchens. Drinks happen in kitchens. I even seen some
dirty dancing in kitchens. Why would you want to be anywhere else?”