I Could Run For President With This Idea

in Life|Me with 17 Comments written by

Sometimes ideas come to me at the strangest times. Tuesday night I was at the St. Louis Blues game enjoying a very close and intense game. Hockey is one of the greatest sports to watch in person. Part of the entertainment of hockey is the fast paced unpredictability of what is going to happen. Another part of seeing a hockey game live is being a part of the crowd. This is always fun until about the 3rd period when you start to separate the drunk fans from the coherent fans. This is fun for a few laughs but after a while it just gets annoying hearing a  guy scream cuss words at players with a bunch of 8 year old kids sitting two rows ahead of you. In this moment of frustration and embarrassment I had an idea that could change all of this. Controlling Alcohol consumption. How will I do this, find out more after clicking that little button below.

Controlling anything is not the American way. We like freedom of speech, choice, and religion. The only thing Americans really like to control is our women (that was a joke). Therefore this idea will probably fly in the face of freedom. But, this idea could be one that would save lives and keep drunk drivers off the streets. I am now stepping to the podium to deliver my speech that could land me a bid to be President in 2012.

In my new plan when a Man or Women turns 21 they have to sign up for a Alcohol ID. This ID will contain your picture, name, address, all that good stuff (much like your license) but it will also contain a bar code. This bar code will be your designated driver or the sign of the end times. Upon arriving at a restaurant bar or sporting event you will present this Alcohol ID to purchase a beer. Upon your purchase your card will be scanned and your alcohol consumption will be tracked for the rest of the evening.
The limit is up for negotiation. There could be a height/weight restriction which would judge how many 16 oz of alcohol you can consume based off your height/weight. There could be a strict 3 beer policy that says after 3 beers you are done. These can all be discussed. Lets go with the 3 beer policy for arguments sake. The limit is 3 beers, after your card has been scanned 3 times you are done for the evening. If you go back for a fourth and you are served there will be record of where you bought it and who served it to you.

You might be like my friend David who is shaking his head right now and calling me names, but this new Alcohol ID will cut drunk driving deaths down by 75% and will cut crime by 10% in all cities and suburbs. How you might ask? Because of the 3 beer limit you will not be able to achieve drunk status and therefore will be unable to drive while intoxicated. Along with this crime will be reduced because Cops will now be freed from patrolling the streets to find drunk drives and will now have the time to actually do their jobs of protecting against crime.

Though this goes against freedom of choice you cannot argue the lives that will be saved because of the ability to limit the amount of alcohol that is consumed.

I know that this idea seems very far fetched, and in all reality I am really just thinking out loud here. But I wonder sometimes if this would not be a bad idea at all? I will say that I do consume alcohol on occasion and am not against it, but responsibility comes along with the ability to drink.

I mainly write this post to bring up a conversation about control.
Maybe, like me, you are a control freak and want to control everything around you. Maybe you have no control over yourself and give into all kinds of temptations. Maybe you are in between. Unfortunately this law would never be passed because of one thing, money. Business would take a big hit in the money books and therefore fight this to take control themselves.

What are the implications of control?

*kyle

About Kyle Reed: Kyle Reed is a connector looking to connect with others. A 20 Something that is blogging his way through life and looking to connect through community. Also a team member of the 8BIT Network and brand evangelist. Find me on twitter: @kylelreed, lets chat.

All Posts by  |  Personal Blog  |  Twitter  |  Facebook  |  Share By Email
  • dannyjbixby

    You COULD run for president with this idea.

    But you'll never make it to the primaries ;)

    • http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com @kylelreed

      You are forgetting that I could just make stuff up and then spring this on people at the last minute. Then I would be golden.
      Do I have your vote Danny?

      • dannyjbixby

        If your name appears on a ballot, yes.

        And I expect kickbacks.

        • http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com @kylelreed

          Of course, thats the American way right?
          Just don't tell anyone

  • http://twitter.com/joshua_w_hunt Joshua Hunt

    Your plan would not work.
    Why?
    Because you are forgetting about another main source of alcohol…grocery/liquor stores. No one needs to go to a sporting event or a restaurant to become a drunk driver. I can buy a case of beer at Schnucks on my way home tonight, pound the case and then take my car out for a joy ride… You want to eliminate drunk drivers? Have a breathalyzer in every car. Make it so that you would have to pass a breathalyzer test before your car would even start.

    Sure, with your law, you've controlled the consumption of alcohol consumers at sporting events or restaurants, but let me tell you something….there will always be ways around this. Just because someone buys a beer and is still under their legal limit of consumption, who's to say they aren't buying the beer for their buddy in the seat next to them?

    Every stadium has a limit as to how many beerverages you can sell to an individual at any given time. For example, while working at Busch Stadium last summer, we were only allowed to sell 2 beers per person per transaction. Now could someone buy two beers, take them to their seat, find a different beerman and buy 2 more and get away with it? Quite possibly… Also, if anyone ever appeared to be intoxicated, we had the right to refuse to sell to them. So if someone handled their liquor/composure very well, sure, they could end up buying enough to push them well over the edge. Now the guys you saw last night may have already been liquored up before entering the stadium, held their composure to buy a few more and were sloppy drunk after those last few cold-ones.

    Also, are you expecting every beer vendor in America to have a scanner on them to scan these alcohol ID's? HA! The cost of putting that into action would be more than enough reason for the bill to be vetoed. Well, I guess you could have our everyday American pay an alcohol tax and that would pay for this to take action…but seems to me that we'll see flying cars before this could occur.

    It's not about controlling one's alcohol consumption, it's about responsibility. Controlling something for someone else, only creates a rage/determination in that person to get what they desire.

    As for your last paragraph….Being a control freak usually stems from something else. I know, because I've struggled with this in the past as well. My 'control freak' status raged from having a low self-esteem. Over time, I was able to let things go. It didn't happen overnight. Yes, there are somethings that I still take control over (and it's okay to take control of)…like my alcohol consumption.

    Also, you have my vote…IF you get a hair cut…and moved out of your parent's basement…but who would be your VP?

    • http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com @kylelreed

      Don't need a VP, but I will check with Bono to see if he is interested.
      You are right, there are tons of holes in this, as well as the idea of putting breathalizers on cars (which I think is a great idea) has holes as well. Just an idea I had that I thought would provoke some conversation to the real issue, and that is control.

      It is interesting to me to see how control can take over. I think one motivation of control if you look on the big level of things is money. The NCAA tournament starts today, next year they want to expand it to 94 teams. Everyone is opposed to this, but it doesn't matter. The only reason they want to do this is Money. Same with government issues as well as big business stuff. Control Control Control.
      Glad you said what you did about control. Because all those reasons are definitely true.

      And by the way, I actually got a hair cut and will potentially be moving in the distant future. Well maybe

      • http://twitter.com/joshua_w_hunt Joshua Hunt

        Bono? really???…. I was hoping you'd go with Rick Flair or maybe Hulk Hogan…or Ben Stiller.
        Think, “red states”.

        Agreed, there are holes in these ideas. It's a shame there wouldn't be a full-proof plan to help take care of this. However, do you think that if we did not have a drinking age limit, or a alcohol blood content legal limit, would the issue go away or decrease? Look at states that do not have a speed limit on their highways…they have fewer vehicular fatalities than states with speed limits. Aren't speed limits supposed to keep us safer?…and later to work/meetings? Just something to throw out there…

        Glad to hear you got a hair cut.
        Potentially moving??? Dude, what is holding you back? Go for it! You have nothing holding you down here in STL at the moment, move & travel while you can!

        • http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com @kylelreed

          There is no who, it is a potential job that I am waiting on.

          And you are right, there is no way that this issue would go away with a law. Same with abortion, murder, stealing, etc….

  • http://godlysheep.com Brett Barner

    Reed|Palin 2012!

    • http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com @kylelreed

      Great point, and if I lose I will just blame it on her

  • pd

    I think this post has some good intentions but is riddled with some errors as to what the role of government is, and in this case, what the cause of drunken crimes is. Where can you draw the line? Should people get a sperm ID? They can use their own hands to kill a person. The problem with alcohol isn't the governments lack of regulation, but its regulation at all. I would lift ALL restrictions on alcohol. Maybe if you get in an accident and are found to be drunk, this might be crazy, but I think its the best long term solution. I think the prohibition might be one of the dumbest moments in human history.

    • http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com @kylelreed

      I think that was the whole point for me writing this post is the absurdity of control that we try and excercise. Mainly with the government. So mainly I think my idea would never fly and probably would never support this because of the implications this would put on controlling others.
      Good points you bring up

      • pd

        so it was satire i missed the joke… well played

        • http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com @kylelreed

          Well yes it was satire in the idea of it never working, but in some way I gave it some serious thought. The satire comes in with the ridiculous idea in nature.
          Really I just wanted a conversation about control and what it means to have control or try and excercise control.

  • kamrie

    Hopefully you won't be president to soon. Doesn't almost every teenager look forward to their twenty first birthday to legally get drunk and gamble all of their money away. How are we supposed to have any fun?
    With only a three drink buzz.

    • pd

      yeah, the other night i was at Dugans until about 3. i think the three beer limit should be reset ever hour.

  • http://twitter.com/Zacinator Zac Cross

    This is a great platform if you want to lose on purpose haha. Like others have said limiting drinks at sporting events and bars does nothing to deter all the drinking that takes place at home and at parties. This sort of control would also likely result in mass rioting and rebellion. Nobody would pass this legislation so it would be an empty promise. Sorry, but this one is out of your control!