CHAT: Alcohol : was [conculture] Digest Number 360

Thomas R. Wier wrote:

> But they don't make exceptions for selling the stuff.
> Some of the blue laws here in Texas are really arcane:
> on Sundays, in Travis County, you can only buy beverages
> below a certain alcohol content (beer and below)
> basically, past a particular time in the day (1 PM, I
> think).  But it varies; there are still lots of East
> Texas counties that're dry, so I hear.
I don't know the precise laws in Australia on that point,
but one of the legal/cultural differences that really
stood out to me when I was in Britain in January was to
see alcohol available in the supermarkets. No alcohol is
available in Australian supermarkets; not even beer.

Also, I hadn't realised that the idea of a drive-in
bottle shop was so particular to Australia. A bottle shop
is, of course, what many countries call an off-license.
Most Australian bottle shops are drive-in, meaning that
you can drive your car right inside the shop to save
lugging heavy crates around.

Many of the people I discussed this with in Britain
were shocked at the very thought!

Adrian.
http://www.flinders.edu.au