Post by 🦍MAXX＞ⓤ on Jul 31, 2023 18:12:33 GMT -5
‘I can’t believe we’re having this conversation’: the states pushing for 14-year-olds to serve alcohol
In the small town of Freedom, Wisconsin, Buzz’s Pub and Grill – a local sports bar whose logo features frothing beer mugs in the colors of the American flag – has been short-staffed since the pandemic. Jeff Baker, the owner, says he “could use one more bartender, and probably two more cooks”. He hasn’t found takers in over a year of running “help wanted” ads, so he’s made do by working extra shifts in the kitchen and paring back the menu.
Baker could soon get more job applicants thanks to a new proposal that would lower Wisconsin’s minimum age for alcohol service to just 14 years old. It would “absolutely” be a welcome change if children applied, he says.“Not as many kids work as much as they used to. Back in our day, more kids were needed, and more parents made their kids work.”
Wisconsin is just one of a growing number of states where predominantly Republican lawmakers are making quiet moves to roll back the alcohol service age, so that kids who can’t legally buy alcohol – or in Wisconsin’s case, even drive a car – would be allowed to serve hard drinks to customers at bars and restaurants. In addition to alleviating the labor shortage, lawmakers behind the bills argue letting kids serve alcohol would give them valuable work experience.
That’s left some opponents of the bills at a loss for words.“It’s bizarre. I can’t believe that we’re even having this conversation,” says Ryan Clancy, a Democratic state legislator who represents parts of Milwaukee, where he also owns an entertainment center that serves alcohol. He’s seen how drunk customers can harass workers, and “the idea that we would expose Wisconsin’s children to harassment through this is just unconscionable. It’s not only an erosion of labor, but our willingness to protect our kids.”
www.yahoo.com/news/t-believe-having-conversation-states-100034920.html
In the small town of Freedom, Wisconsin, Buzz’s Pub and Grill – a local sports bar whose logo features frothing beer mugs in the colors of the American flag – has been short-staffed since the pandemic. Jeff Baker, the owner, says he “could use one more bartender, and probably two more cooks”. He hasn’t found takers in over a year of running “help wanted” ads, so he’s made do by working extra shifts in the kitchen and paring back the menu.
Baker could soon get more job applicants thanks to a new proposal that would lower Wisconsin’s minimum age for alcohol service to just 14 years old. It would “absolutely” be a welcome change if children applied, he says.“Not as many kids work as much as they used to. Back in our day, more kids were needed, and more parents made their kids work.”
Wisconsin is just one of a growing number of states where predominantly Republican lawmakers are making quiet moves to roll back the alcohol service age, so that kids who can’t legally buy alcohol – or in Wisconsin’s case, even drive a car – would be allowed to serve hard drinks to customers at bars and restaurants. In addition to alleviating the labor shortage, lawmakers behind the bills argue letting kids serve alcohol would give them valuable work experience.
That’s left some opponents of the bills at a loss for words.“It’s bizarre. I can’t believe that we’re even having this conversation,” says Ryan Clancy, a Democratic state legislator who represents parts of Milwaukee, where he also owns an entertainment center that serves alcohol. He’s seen how drunk customers can harass workers, and “the idea that we would expose Wisconsin’s children to harassment through this is just unconscionable. It’s not only an erosion of labor, but our willingness to protect our kids.”
www.yahoo.com/news/t-believe-having-conversation-states-100034920.html
