Thread by @andreagrimes, hi let’s talk about thiskey lede sentence: "some Austin drinking spots had [...]

hi let’s talk about this

key lede sentence: "some Austin drinking spots had trouble following capacity limits and social distancing rules" https://bit.ly/2zzucxF

After reopened Austin bars draw crowds, Adler urges caution

On the first weekend that Texas bars reopened after coronavirus-related shutdowns, complaints and social media posts indicated some Austin drinking spots had trouble following capacity limits and...

https://bit.ly/2zzucxF

“had trouble” is some weenie bullshit, boy howdy

bars are probably one of the few spots where “following capacity limits” is extremely a fucking norm, if you have trouble following those limits, you are NOT TRYING

Bars didn’t “have trouble," they fuckin didn’t limit patrons and I can only speculate why @odam or his editors (if there are any left at the AAS, who knows) didn’t just say bars didn’t fucking follow capacity limits but here we are in the year of our Weenie Food Journalism 2020

I can’t think of a journalism beat that has a better opportunity to do real accountability shit right now and either nobody is being given the leeway to write real shit or most people are afraid to lose sources, which is some gross source accessibility nonsense

IN THEORY one of the key things journalism does is check the failures of government! When @MayorAdler is watching imminent danger in real time and reacting with some “please maintain” distance nonsense, it is the responsibility of reporters to call BS. https://twitter.com/MayorAdler/status/1264676410330939398

https://twitter.com/MayorAdler/status/1264676410330939398

And IDGAF, if our dip-ass mayor can’t enforce any goddamned thing, we can at least be real about what’s happening, and if bars having “trouble” means they’re bragging on social media about their packed houses isn’t “oh no we tried but it got out of control” it’s fucking bullshit!

It’s easy to say Republicans greased the wheels for this shit because any time you say boo about reopening it’s “oh we’re just trying to feed our families how dare you” and then Bob Fuckin’ Woody shows up by packing a load of assholes wall to wall in his gross-ass bars

Which entirely fucks any small bars + restaurants who really (carelessly, if you ask me, but I’ll say benefit of the doubt for people with shitty options) are trying to reopen per regulations!

(There is still no way to reopen safely; cases and deaths are still climbing in TX.)

And then you have local officials who, I assume, are trying not to get into legal battles with the state — which means they don’t enforce the ineffective rules that do exist — you have the sum effect of: nobody is fucking safe, and it’s not partisan, it’s just wholesale fuckery.

Which is really just the story of white people liberalism in general, which is make useless gestures toward #resistance but ultimately capitulate to everything and say you tried while people die.

And of COURSE of COURSE it is bullshit that anybody is having to decide whether to open a business (unsafely, no other option) right now, because we could ABSOLUTELY be paying unemployment and subsidizing small biz! but trump is golfing and greg abbott’s head is up his nine-iron

But the will of the people is strong and we could also ABSOLUTELY be making our best effort to keep each other safe, but a thousand white people apparently need to drink shitty margaritas and hump each others’ eyeballs instead, murka 2020

If there were a way to open/run businesses where everyone working there and everyone in attendance and everyone those people interact with ever (EVERYONE THEY INTERACT WITH, EVER) could consent to getting infected with COVID, it would STILL be abject asshattery to open.

But there is no way to ensure mutual enthusiastic consent when people’s jobs and livelihoods are on the line, which is why it is:

- on the gov’t to fund us to stay alive right now
- on all of us to demand that
- on all of us not to put people in danger in lieu of it

I posted today on @EasyTigerATX insta about how now that they’re open for seated patio customers we won’t get takeout anymore, and some Karen got salty about how I’m not supporting local businesses because freedom and

I JUST DON’T WANT PEOPLE TO DIE, YOU ABSOLUTE DING-DONGS

Nobody can make a free and agent personal freedom decision not to patronize a place when narrative is “purchase high-risk items” or “hate small businesses you snowflake” — there is no choice involved, there. For me, or, very likely, for staff who work at those spots.

The restaurant/bar industry has huge power in Texas — it’s part of why we “reopened” while cases/deaths are on the rise — and the biggest players could have demanded $ and health care. They didn’t. They demanded putting low-income folx back to work so people like me could drink.

I AM MAD ABOUT IT, AND GETTING ANOTHER BEER.

AT HOME, THE PLACE I DEARLY WOULD LOVE TO NOT BE AND BE IN A BAR INSTEAD

OKAY AND ANOTHER THING

I patronize good bars the way most people breathe fuckin’ air

being a Good Bar Patron is a key part of Who I Am As A Person

I promise you that few others on this miserable-ass planet miss being in a bar more than I do: bars are MY THING

I drink at the bar with my friends

I drink at the bar with my husband

I drink at the bar with a book

I drink at the bar with my computer

you want a Third Place-type bar person? TIS I, THE WOMAN AT THE BAR

and i am not willing to kill for this, my greatest pleasure

So when I see these fuckin chucklefucks out there pushing the safety line back and back and back and back and back for the rest of us, I get A LITTLE SALTY

I LIVE AND BREATHE to over-tip and stumble home! Every home I have ever chosen has been with two criteria in mind

- does it have a good terlet
- can i stumble home from a good bar

NONE OF THESE DIPSHITS LOVE A BAR MORE THAN I DO

and yet here i am, at home, not killing people!

if i can do it, chelsea can!!!!

IMAGINE KILLING SOMEONE’S GRANDMOTHER TO DRINK AT

BUFORD'S

I can’t stop people from going to bad bars in general but ye gods let us not die for the effort and kill others in the process

Ughghghghghghghghhghg send tweet

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