Whatcha drinking (2025)?

[TastyReuben]

What's that?

An open container law is one that specifies where it’s illegal to posses an open container of alcohol. It varies state-to-state here, and even jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction.

For example, you can’t drive around with an open container of alcohol, even if it’s your passenger drinking it. You can’t sit in a parked car and drink, either.

You also can’t walk down the street with an open bottle, or sit in the park and have a tipple with your perfectly respectable picnic lunch (that one irritates me no end).

Around here, the larger cities all have designated “entertainment zones” (i.e. bar districts) where you can wander and drink, going from bar to bar - usually 2-4 city blocks. There are also exceptions for events, like street fairs.

 

[badjak]

An open container law is one that specifies where it’s illegal to posses an open container of alcohol. It varies state-to-state here, and even jurisdiction-to-jurisdiction.

For example, you can’t drive around with an open container of alcohol, even if it’s your passenger drinking it. You can’t sit in a parked car and drink, either.

You also can’t walk down the street with an open bottle, or sit in the park and have a tipple with your perfectly respectable picnic lunch (that one irritates me no end).

Around here, the larger cities all have designated “entertainment zones” (i.e. bar districts) where you can wander and drink, going from bar to bar - usually 2-4 city blocks. There are also exceptions for events, like street fairs.

Thanks.

 

[kaneohegirlinaz]

During the Covid lock down, I had placed a to-go order at our local 19th hole restaurant for their Prime Rib Dinner Special.

When I got there, no one had taken the order and I had to wait.
The Manager was so upset by that, he gave me an "on the house" glass of wine, which I declined, because I said I'd never finish it before the food came out...
"Oh that's okay. The County is allowing to-go alcohol now, so long as it has a cover on it."

I only got a few sips in before the food came out and was ready to go, when he topped me off for the road!

 

[kaneohegirlinaz]

What was funny during that Covid Lock Down was the bar at the 19th hole was delivering cocktails to homes within a certain distance!

 

[TastyReuben]

You're busted if a container of alcohol is open!

Your explanation was much more succinct than mine. I have a certain suspicion of OC and blue laws, though, so I can’t help but point out the hypocrisy sometimes.

 

[Barriehie]

Your explanation was much more succinct than mine. I have a certain suspicion of OC and blue laws, though, so I can’t help but point out the hypocrisy sometimes.

I'm still used to Las Vegas laws...

 

[TastyReuben]

Hers is the one with two cherries because I hate those things, and I apparently got gender-confused with the straws. Oh well, girlie-boy I’ll be…

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

So is rule this some sort of hangover from prohibition?
How did it come about?

We now have the same rules (recently introduced) in some low brow city areas but theyre never enforced unless the person/people are clearly causing a public nuisance.

 

[TastyReuben]

So is rule this some sort of hangover from prohibition?
How did it come about?

Open-container law - Wikipedia

 

[kaneohegirlinaz]

I can say that on Oahu, they strictly enforce the open container laws at the Public Parks and all Beaches - who doesn't have a cold Beer with their BBQ at the Beach? That's the best! A good day of surfing and then a cold one with family and friends while your supper is being cooked by charcoal - oh wait! We can't have charcoal grills anymore either! No open flames ...

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Open-container law - Wikipedia

Doesn’t really explain how it came about just that it exists.

 

[Barriehie]

Doesn’t really explain how it came about just that it exists.

Just another way to take your money and keep, theoretically, fewer or less drunk drunks off the street. I get it on the type of container. Las Vegas will typically have 300,000 visitors on New Year's Eve so some form of "broken glass mgmt." plan needs to be in place for safety. The police are on horses too so they're looked after as well.

 

[TastyReuben]

Doesn’t really explain how it came about just that it exists.

If I had to guess, I’d say a genuine concern for curbing/containing public drunkenness intersecting with the capitalistic trait of profit - “Hey, I’m tired of all these drunks carousing and whizzing on every street corner…any way we can stop that?”

“Well, we could make it wholesale illegal and starting conking people on the head, rough ‘em up, arrest a few…but hear me out on this…how ‘bout we reduce the likelihood of it, and make a little money at the same time?”

“No pee…half the pee and money in my pocket… …where do I sign up?!”

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Just another way to take your money and keep, theoretically, fewer or less drunk drunks off the street. I get it on the type of container. Las Vegas will typically have 300,000 visitors on New Year's Eve so some form of "broken glass mgmt." plan needs to be in place for safety. The police are on horses too so they're looked after as well.

So there were so many drunk and disorderly people in public spaces they banned all consumption?
Honestly unless America varies wildly from the UK in the level of drunken pita’s then it seems like complete overkill.
Talk about a way to ruin a picnic or BBQ.
Theres a lot of fun to be had in having some nice food and drink together.

 

[TastyReuben]

Honestly unless America varies wildly from the UK in the level of drunken pita’s then it seems like complete overkill.

A lot of it has to do with money. For example, we have a lovely park in Cincy…they host outdoor events, art shows, movies under the stars, they have a dog park, Shakespeare in the Park, etc.

For the longest time they had the standard sign up about alcohol strictly prohibited, giant fines and possible jail time, all to preserve the peace and family atmosphere…until the parks board built a swank craft beer & artisan cocktails bar with drinks at a premium price and then some, then it became legal to have a drink in the park…but only if purchased from them, no outside alcohol allowed, subject to the same penalties as before.

The legal “entertainment zones” are the same way, no outside alcohol. A lot of events are like that as well.

Depending on where you’re at and how you’re behaving, it may or may not be an issue. I live on a dead-end rural(ish) road with 24 houses. No through street, no shops, just us residents, some cows, and some cornfields.

Technically, I can’t open a beer and walk three houses down to my neighbor’s. It’s illegal, as soon as I leave my property (that’s, I’m assuming, how kaneohegirlinaz got picked up in Hawaii).

However, no one worries about that because everyone is well-behaved and the likelihood of a cop showing up is almost zero. I’ve made pitchers of drinks for my neighbor, I’ve walked countless beers over and back, bottles of whiskey, etc.

But if I were to go stumbling through my neighborhood making a drunken nuisance of myself, someone could call the cops, and I’d get ticketed for (I’m assuming) public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and violating the open container law.

We go on picnics, and I bring things to drink (like a split of champagne, or two cocktails in a small thermos), but we’re very, very careful where we consume it, and how we behave, and we haven’t had a problem yet, and I’d expect, if we got caught, we’d likely be told to “just be discreet,” maybe someone a little more gung-ho might tell us to pour it out. If we were teens, we’d likely get that (well-deserved) conk on the head and the opportunity to visit the local police station’s accommodations for a few hours.