Buying a Six-Pack and Gas - Banned in Lithuania

"A place to get gas and gassed…"
Oddly Enough (June 25, 2009)

"Quick quiz: Where would be a really stupid place to sell booze?

"a) churches

"b) kindergartens

"c) hospitals

"d) gas stations

"Okay, they’re all pretty stupid, but I guess I’m going to say gas stations, because you really can buy liquor there in Lithuania. I’m not making this up.

"But in a clear example of jack-booted repression, on January 1 it became illegal for gas stations to sell liquor at night.

"I mean, what could go wrong with a carload of yokels pulling off the highway, filling their tank, buying a couple of handles of vodka and roaring off into the darkness?

"To answer an obvious question, police data show that alcohol-related accidents have dropped by 45 percent since the ban was imposed...."

I don't know what to think about this one. I live in America, where we sell beer at convenience stores: which may also sell gasoline. And, I live in an area where the Prohibition era helped monasteries raise funds: They built and sold stills. This part of Minnesota was mostly German and Irish at the time, and a law banning beer was taken about as seriously as you might expect.

There's a lively discussion going on in America today, about whether to stop selling beer at gas stations. Getting serious for a moment, Mothers Against Drunk Driving to have a point. (More about that at "MADD Mixture: Beer, Gasoline and Money FOXBusiness.com (August 21, 2008).)

This Oddly Enough post caught my eye, partly for the content and partly for the tone. It's a trifle more serious than most. Still, you might want to check it out, if only for the photos.