Tonya Coffey's Blog - Posts Tagged "alcohol"

Small Town Politics

I'm not big on voicing my opinion when it comes to politics. I listen to what each candidate has to say then I cast my own vote to help me or my family. People don't sway my opinion either way or another. It's my choice.
So my small town is in a debate on whether to have alcohol in stores. Our county has voted on his topic at least four times in the last few years. I may be exaggerating because I think you have to wait so many years before you can resubmit the petition again. Anyway, our county sits in the center of a dozen other counties who already sell alcohol. Our neighbors, where my husband works, started selling a few years ago. Their town has already grown, bringing in three big restaurants, of course liquor stores and a healthy tax which they expanded their police and made the park even better. I read the small school even received money for better computers and other things the classes didn't have before.
As I drive down the road and I see Vote No signs and I hear people saying it would be wrong to have it in the county, I wonder why they are so against it. They worry their kids will purchase it. Kids will get their hands on it one way or another. If a teen wants to try alcohol they will, it doesn't matter if they sell it in the county they grew up in or not.
I heard bars would move it and destroy what little peace we had. This isn't the seventies when bars where the only place to drink. Families do alot of stuff in restaurants where you can buy drinks. Applebees, Renos, Texas Roadhouse, Olive Garden, and there are so many more that are family restaurants.
The biggest thing I heard was DUI's would increase. Would someone who has to drive an extra thirty minutes be more likely to open a can and drink it on the way home or someone who buys it ten minutes from their home? Umm makes you understand why DUI's are big right now.
I get why people are worried. They think the town will fall into a dark spiraling spin of drunks and parties. If I had to be honest, I think I would rather have drunks then the druggies that run our town now. I believe if you teach your kids about alcohol and you show them it isn't something that is the devils elixir then they wouldn't want to get drunk. They would respect it more.
My opinion of the vote. I want it to go through. I would love for our poor, backwoods county to become something other then the drug and welfare rich county it is. I want my kids to have somewhere better to live. I want them to settle in here when they get out of school.
We need jobs. We need tourism but we can't have anything if our county doesn't want to change with the times.
It's sad when Christian volunteers who come from out of state have to take their families into the next county to sit down at a restaurant, drink wine and watch a movie. What a waste of money our county could be using.
 •  0 comments  •  flag
Share on Twitter
Published on March 07, 2016 07:29 Tags: alcohol, county, drinks, families, home, kids, politics, restaurants, small-town, voting