Bars are democratic
spaces - you talk to strangers, you share booths, you feel the bond of common
ground. Bring democratic discourse to your local democratic space - build
democracy one drink at a time. --Drinking Liberally
We've all heard about the health
benefits of drinking as well as the various downsides of too much of the
stuff. In recent years, various authors have taken on the relative
importance of parental imbibing and its implication of a more relaxed and
humorous approach to childrearing (including Three
Martini Playdate, Mommies
Who Drink, and Daddy
Needs a Drink). Parents, it seems, are interested once again in finding a way to spend the evening hours with the kids that is less Gymboree, and more cocktail hour.
When my husband and I moved from the suburbs to the city last year, much of what we sought was a lessening of our social isolation --as individuals and as a family. I can appreciate some of the advantages of the suburbs: better schools, safer neighborhoods, quieter streets. But none of it compares to quaffing a beer and talking politics with a pal in a friendly pub, while the children play happily -- notwithstanding the lack of Chuck E. Cheese to keep them company.
And while my town doesn't yet have the number of family-friendly brew pubs and ale houses apparently around every corner in Seattle, we're getting there. Until then, I believe I'm doing my part for democracy and laid back parenting by meeting in pubs and discussing the state of the world --with children in tow.
The brew pub play date has arrived!
