Maybe, I have watched too much Mad Men but the thought of a “bar car” on a train line doesn’t seem so far fetched (or even wrong) to me.
And yet this piece in the NY Times made it seem like it was something best left in the “Good Old Days”. I thought that people taking public transit or taxis was preferred. But if the article is to be believed then people were getting blitzed on the train and then driving home once they reached their destination. The mixed message that I get is that it is OK to have bars in train stations and everywhere else but a train car is too much.
I am a big advocate for enjoying your drinks in moderation, be it wine, cocktails or craft beer. Primarily because I have a Slow Food type of motto. That you shouldn’t wolf down food or drink. You just don’t enjoy it as much that way. And if people did that, then we could have beer and wine and spirits on planes, trains (but not automobiles).
I would think that a great tourism idea would be to have the public transport take visitors to various culinary spots around town with local beer and wine on the train as a way to show off Los Angeles without having to fight our so much fun traffic.
Don’t ban something when it can be turned into something creative and fun.
The lack of well-established public transportation in the United States distinguishes our drinking culture from France’s and England’s. In Europe, people get off of work and they have a couple drinks before going home. Because they can just take the train, they can drink socially more often.
The bar car is a terrific idea because it promotes community. I definitely support investing in public transportation as a means of de-stressing the workforce.
Plus it would get more people onto mass transit. No creative ways go unpunished, I guess.