RSVP

If I ran the responses to social media for a Los Angeles brewery right now, I would just type, “We Know.”

Granted, I am beyond happy that they can open again but LA seems intent on making the experience of visiting a taproom onerous. In addition to the bizarro everyone must order food mandate (whether you eat it or not), now you have to make a reservation in advance, you have only a window of time to sit and no more than six people in a group.

I am quite fine with the last one actually since I am an introvert but there is obviously a Prohibitionist streak tucked into this rule set. If you drink, you will get drunk and do something stupid. Alcohol bad. So, we will force you to eat, cut down on available time to drink, all in an effort to basically dissuade you from going in the first place.

Imagine a scenario where a brewery has empty tables and a resident of the community sees people drinking and says to themselves, a beer would be nice but because they are only a casual beer fan may not know all the hoops to jump through. That person gets turned away because they didn’t set a play date 24 hours in advance? Even though they may be perfectly responsible and safety conscious?

And don’t tell me it is about making sure a person doesn’t leave the house sick. That is all timing and an advanced RSVP doesn’t preclude a sick person from unwittingly passing a virus. No, it is just a hoop that the brewery owner has to police and become the bad guy for because what angry customer is going to go to the Mayor and complain to him.

I would have all my staff wearing sandwich boards saying, We Know the rules are crappy.