3. Beer Is The Devil And Pubs Foster Sin
tumblrPeople attribute the forming of the USA as we know it to hating the English and not wanting to pay tax on tea because of taxation without representation or some such rubbish. The real reason is the people rebelled against the church and didn't want religion to dictate what they can do. There's even a part of the US constitution that mentions it. Did you know that Christmas was illegal in the USA until about 1850? Most Americans don't. Amazingly puritanical rules still exist. Each state has its own bizarre and contradictory religious-based laws regarding liquor and some may surprise you. I live on the border of Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. If I buy a case of beer and a few bottles of wine in Maryland, a mere three miles away, and drive home to PA I've broken the law. I'm effectively a bootlegger. The "United" part of the equation that they like to plaster everywhere often falls apart especially when it comes to booze. All liquor stores in Pennsylvania are run by the government and so they have a monopoly and god forbid you circumnavigate that by driving a couple of miles south. Some states you can buy booze in supermarkets, some states you can't. Some states allow open carry laws (that's innocently walking around with a can of Tennents Extra to you and me) others do not. In PA you can buy as many six packs as you want but can only carry two out of the pub at a time and each six pack has to be individually bagged in brown paper. You know, to hide that dirty little secret. It's like you're buying sex toys or something. There's no pub culture here. No meeting place in an estate (a development as they're called) where the townsfolk congregate, laugh, fight and play darts all in the same night. Every one drives to pubs and usually they're ten miles away tucked into strip malls or dirty dives where you wipe your feet on the way out. It's probably the biggest thing I miss - the social aspect of the pub culture and it's a shame that most Americans who don't live in big cities will never enjoy a good pool tournament followed by a walk, a WALK, to the nearest eight pubs for more shenanigans.