City Council Can't Get Through The Holidays Sober

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 28, 2006 5:18PM

Let's say you come from a family that enjoys good conversation while sharing a bottle of wine on the holidays. Or maybe you come from a family where you need a stiff shot of Glenrothes in order to get through the unwrapping of presents. But you live in Chicago, both Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on a Sunday this year, and you can't buy liquor until 11 a.m.

Let's take solace in the knowledge that 47th Ward Alderman Gene Schulter is looking out for us. Schulter, the City Council's License Committee Chairman, wants to amend liquor licenses to allow the retail sale of liquor on Sundays at 8 a.m., when Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve fall on a Sunday. Explaining the proposal, Schulter said,

"When you're in a holiday mode, you want to get your stuff done as quickly as you can without going back and forth. If someone is at the store [early], why not allow them to do all of their shopping at once."

Well, it's either that or Alderman Schulter's been reading what Gawker's recently written about City Council, and wants to show them. Never mind that New York City passed their smoking ban a full two-and-a-half years before Chicago, and is also proposing banning trans fats, as well. We're the whiny bitches!

Digressing, this is no-brainer. The last time Schulter and the License Committee made a liquor license concession, it allowed for champagne brunches two years ago. We don't want to be wasting our time buying last-minute provisions one hour before kickoff, when we could be half in the bag, eating chips, and arguing with some uncle who gets all his opinions from listening to Mike North that Kyle Orton could lead the Bears to the Super Bowl. Maybe Schulter is also looking out for fellow aldermen. Like Dick Mell, who probably needs a shot of scotch so that when he smiles at his ungrateful son-in-law, it doesn't look like a chore. Or Burt Natarus, who might need to drink the day away because some smart-ass blogger keeps linking to this photo of him in L. Frank Baum drag. What do y'all think?