Bloody Battles in the Comment's Section

The New York Times Dining & Wine section had a humorous article on people getting drunk at expensive high-class restaurants. There were examples of stripping, throwing up, passing out and singing. The article was light and funny and made the top ten emailed story list with ease. Not much of a gloss can be put on the article, but what was really interesting was the comment’s section.

With newspapers being on the internet, people can comment on a story right after reading it. This makes news reporting immediate and interactive. No more waiting for the letters to the editor. Now you can read the reactions in their raw, unspellchecked glory.

The reactions fell into distinct categories. The most popular response was people’s own stories of dealing with drunks at restaurants or their own confessions of drinking a bit too much before dinner arrived. They’re actually pretty boring so I won’t reprint any of those.

Besides the stories, most comments were arguments. The ex-drunks and nags got up on their soap box:

Why is it acceptable to poison oneself with alchol [sic] for any reason?

And this:

Wasn’t the same kind of thing happening in Rome just before it fell?

Yeah, that’s right America is on the decline because people get soused in restaurants. Here’s a guy who was driven from civilization due to these brutes:

I recall similarly creepy scenes at a number of 4-star restaurants, and … This was one reason I lost my taste for those restaurants and hotels — and for that matter gave in to my natural reclusiveness and retired to a hut in the woods!

Perhaps that is for the best for all of us. Hopefully you won’t be making bombs. And then there is the pothead who is far superior by his choice of inebriation:

Alcohol is a legal but deadly drug. As this excellent article clearly shows, judgement [sic] goes right out the window when some people get drunk…At the same time, the far less dangerous drug pot should be legal and therefore provide a safer alternative.

This guy points out alternatives:

If you drink to reduce stress, their are other ways to achieve, including meditation, marshal arts, [sic] sex, sports, nature walks, or RX medications and psychotherapy.

Marshall arts? Sounds like paintings of sheriffs. Of course, there are the smart asses who love to rile people:

Any fool can drive home sober, but it takes real genius to get there safely while drunk.

And this:

I have dined at the finest five-star restaurants the world over. Boorish and drunken behavior are not unique to the corner tavern. After all, alcohol still is the best way to wash down all the pills.

And then there are the deluded, ugly-American arguments:

Public drunkenness among the young, usually a result of binge drinking, is newly epidemic in university towns in France, but drunkenness in good restaurants is in my experience almost unheard of. Middle class French people drink and eat judiciously…More than that, French people think (and I think they are right in this), and you might as well be dining at McDonald’s; [sic] after the third glass the wine drinks the man or woman. Moreover, it is not thought polite to be drunk in public in France. That, they think, is for Brits and Americans.

I’ve encountered many publicly drunk French in France. The French might think being drunk in public impolite, but that doesn’t stop them anymore than it stops us.

Thankfully, most of the comments were for having fun in restaurants. I’ll leave you with this gentleman’s thoughts:

With apologies to all of you who are apalled [sic] at the sight of several inebriates in “your” fine restaurant, I have to say that intoxication is an essential part of the fine dining experience. Vomiting, acting out, and some of the other behavior described here has no place in a fine restaurant, but getting drunk and slightly boisterous does. Simply put, fine meals are a celebration of the ideal of hedonism- if you’re shovelling foie gras [sic] down your gob and chasing it with a rack of lamb, you don’t have the moral high ground from which to condemn those who also like to imbibe fine wines and maybe break out into a song or two.