Sunday my friends and I were trying to figure out where we wanted to go eat supper. We suddenly found ourselves victims of the no Sunday alcohol sales law. All of the restaurants we wanted to go to were closed. Most restaurants in Starkville that sell alcohol close on Sunday. The revenue and crowds are so sketchy that these places don’t open.
This brings me to my point. Our idea of not selling alcohol on Sunday is flawed. This is one of the last vestiges of the old Starkville. It used to be the town tried to corral us crazy college kids as best they could with city ordinances. For a long time, Starkville had a town curfew, as Johnny Cash found out one fateful night, later penning “Starkville City Jail.” Then there was the notorious no cold beer sales law, which should go down in history as one of the most ridiculous laws ever.
The defendants of the no Sunday sales law contend that in these times of ever-increasing secularism, we need to at least somewhat honor Sunday as a holy day. Well, ladies and gentlemen, in our Constitution we have a small section known as the “equal protection clause.” In it, the Constitution guarantees everyone the same amount of protection by the law regardless of race, creed, color or religion.
Sunday is widely recognized as a Christian holy day. Fair enough, but if we are to honor one holy day, we need to honor all of them. OK, so the Jewish faith’s holy day is Saturday, so no beer on that day either. Muslim holy day is Friday, so that one is gone. We are still forgetting Buddhists, Hindus, Wiccans and a few hundred other religions’ holy days. So to be on the safe side, no alcohol at all. Going out for that day after Valentine’s drink? Sorry, that’s Nirvana Day for Buddhists … no booze. We wouldn’t want that ice-cold beer to interfere with meditation.
Does this make any sense? What is good for the goose is good for the gander. Sure, it was an inconvenience for my friends and me trying to find a restaurant, but there’s a bigger picture here. Starkville has repeatedly been voted the worst place to party in the SEC. Yet according to Playboy, we have one of the best college bars in the nation. So is it the students doing this?
Not really, it’s the mindset of our local leadership. I’ll take this time to commend Ward 4 Alderman Richard Corey on his pro-student (well, he is one) stance.
Not only is this law not very credible, it’s robbing our city. Bottom line, if people want a drink on Sunday, they’re going to get it. So everyone goes right down the road to West Point or Columbus. That’s revenue going right out of our pockets.
What about new restaurants to come to this area? It’s going to be hard to add to our already great restaurant scene because of this law. An establishment wants to supplement their revenue with alcohol sales on Sunday and do to great effect. Alumni would probably stay longer on the weekends if we had this law repealed.
If you listened to our city council when the law to allow cold beer sales came up for consideration, it was as if the apocalypse was knocking on our door, and the plague was coming to party with him, too. Yet, despite a collective “yee-haw” by the student body, the DUI arrests for the first weekend after cold beer sales were allowed were no higher than any other weekend. Nothing out of the ordinary to report here, sir.
The overall theme is this: Starkville, whether some people like it or not, is a college town. If it weren’t for the university, the town would be just another quiet little hamlet where all the residents could feel safe in knowing the drunkards won’t be out doing their thing on Sunday. Students drive this economy. We pay the 2 percent food and beverage tax, making it a sizeable portion of the city’s income. It’s time our city’s aldermen take a look at who their constituency really is. Besides, where are we going to get beer for Super Bowl Sunday? Emergency meeting of the Board of Alderman anyone?