Instapundit linked to a John Stossel post about Utah's government monopoly on liquor distribution. When I moved to Iowa in the early 1970s I was dumbfounded by that system of purchasing. I can still remember driving up and down the street looking for the only liquor store listed in the phone book in Atlantic, Iowa. Eventually it dawned on me that what looked like a plumbing supply shop was a LIQUOR STORE. I went in and there were no aisles and no products. Just a counter and a sign high on the wall to the left. The process was to find the category you wanted, make a decision and then mark your choice on the pad at the counter. The clerk would go to the back room and sack up your stuff. Then you skulk back to your car after paying.
We moved to a neighboring town that was smaller yet. It had the same system except that the clerk had a bunch of good ole boy jokes and cartoons posted near the cash register. When I moved to yet another Iowa community and the LIQUOR STORE was self-serve (but still state-run), it seemed like a whole new world.
Which goes to show how your perspective can shrink in a very short span of time. In this case, it was two years to extremely diminished expectations. From Katz Drugs' wide-open approach in Kansas City ("See something you might want to try?") to the "It isn't worth the trouble" system in Iowa.
Iowa has since changed its liquor distribution and for all I know Katz Drugs is out of business.
We moved to a neighboring town that was smaller yet. It had the same system except that the clerk had a bunch of good ole boy jokes and cartoons posted near the cash register. When I moved to yet another Iowa community and the LIQUOR STORE was self-serve (but still state-run), it seemed like a whole new world.
Which goes to show how your perspective can shrink in a very short span of time. In this case, it was two years to extremely diminished expectations. From Katz Drugs' wide-open approach in Kansas City ("See something you might want to try?") to the "It isn't worth the trouble" system in Iowa.
Iowa has since changed its liquor distribution and for all I know Katz Drugs is out of business.