As stated in the article Rep. Richard Raymond (D-Laredo) is working to legalize the sell of alcohol in vending machines to establishments that allow the on location consumption of alcohol. Along with Vice chair Roland Gutierrez (D-San Antonio) who helped impose the bill on Monday. Gutierrez stated, "The customer must present an employee of the establishment with a valid ID, which is scanned into a database and tied to a customer’s credit card. The customer is then given a uniquely encoded wristband to access the machine. The bands would track the amount of alcohol consumed by a bar patron and limit alcohol intake. Vending machine users would be cut off after 30 ounces of beer, 10 ounces of wine or three ounces of liquor." My first initial thoughts after reading this were that they seemed to have thought very thoroughly about the implantation of the vending machines which I was very enthusiastic to see, because honestly I was expecting some poorly thrown together plan of getting these machines into areas as soon as possibly, however, that turns out to not be the case at all. Although, there was one issue of being able to take off the wristband and giving it to a person under the age but no counter action was stated.
Another problem that was arisen was that many bartenders felt like it would affect the average amount of tips they receive since most of their pay is based off tips but Shane Ali, a biology senior who used to bartend house parties made a good point: "One of the reasons that people go to bars are for, like, their favorite shot or fancy shots that are being made instead of a glass of wine or a quick beer". From this, I don't believe that bartenders tips would really be affected all to much since even though the contents of the vending machines were not specified people do have a preference and would like to have a specific drink made for them.
Overall, I am on the fence about the implantation of alcoholic vending machines but I am willing to see where it goes based off the information I gather it seems like they did a good job implementing alcohol regulation and safety also not allowing easy access. So I am willing to see were it goes in the near future if they do happen to be placed in local bars and what not.
1 comment:
After reading this article I think it’s about time. We need these it’ll create more job opportunity I believe. In my opinion I don’t believe bartenders will be effected in this case. Bartenders are there more for a mixed drink as opposed to giving you a beer. People go to bars to have a drink made for them. If people want a beer they normally stop on their way home to buy a six pack. I believe the person who came up with the idea is pretty set. To have your card tied up with your driver’s license is pretty intense. I think they should maybe also add a breathalyzer to the machine just for an extra so it can be passed. As for my past two years living in Austin in West Campus and having vending machines in the lobby I always thought about why not a beer vending machine. It would be so much more convenient to just buy a beer that way. They’d probably make a ton of money if they set them up in the ski rises in downtown Austin as well. Most of them have vending machines and to add a liquor vending machine would probably be even more amazing. I’m talking like these places have like thirty floors of people I’m sure someone is thirsty and lazy in there.
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