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“The whole thing is bullshit. It’s bullshit because they’re putting all the responsibility on the low man on the totem pole.” In case it’s not already clear, this man is talking about New Mexico’s alcohol service laws. A long-time veteran of the downtown upscale restaurant service industry, this old friend of mine, who asked to remain anonymous, doesn’t mince words when asked about the statutes that he and many of his colleagues consider a rude, classist joke. “Maybe they talked to the restaurant owners before they made the law—hell, maybe they talked to the servers, I don’t know; they didn’t talk to me. I wasn’t asked, I was told, ‘Here’s what you do…’”
Only he really wasn't. In the mid-'90s, New Mexico lawmakers began cracking down on DWI after a rash of highly publicized, deadly alcohol-related crashes. It was a political rallying point for every candidate in this state for the better part of a decade, and much of the legislation passed was aimed at holding accountable anyone who could in any way be viewed as contributing to DWI. Among other things, this meant an unprecedented responsibility being placed on servers and bartenders to monitor their patrons' alcohol intake, and severe repercussions being imposed on any who overserved. On paper, it sounds great; more widespread accountability leading to more people actively preventing drunk driving. But the reality of trying to train people to accurately judge another's level of intoxication (especially in a busy restaurant setting) is not simple—if even possible.
The course for servers is intended to help servers figure out when a person is drunk, and how to tell if they're "sober," "impaired," or "intoxicated." "Impaired," they tell you, "is like a 'yellow light.'" But none of the metaphoric terms used in the explanations are ever qualified, and to further complicate things, instructors reiterate, "Well, some people can handle their buzz better than others, so you might not be able to tell."
As my source put it, “I’ve been in the industry for 12 years, so I’ve
Beyond putting that non-specific responsibility on what were previously considered innocent parties, our state's enforcement of existing statues regarding the people actually committing the DWI is dubious at best. "It seems like there are people who get one DWI, and they get the book thrown at them. Then you read about people, 'He killed someone and this was his 23rd DWI…'"
So now we have a lot of laws casting blame on a lot of people for the irresponsible actions of a few, in the hopes that these other now culpable parties will take responsibility for those around them. "We end up passing the buck, but I've never heard of shit rolling uphill. Who are servers going to put it on?" The people who are targeted—the immigrants, the high school grads and college students who make up the vast majority of the service industry—don't have the political influence the restaurant owners and groups advocating for the victims of drunk driving incidents wield—not to mention the affluent and well-connected private citizens that patronize many of our downtown watering holes, but live in the hills above us.
"I'm too young to remember this, but there was a time in this country when you were responsible for your own buzz." It would be nice if we didn't need draconic laws to discourage an obviously dangerous and selfish behavior.
Miljen spends his days thinking deep thoughts about shallow things and drinking good beers with interesting people. Become one of them by emailing miljen@sfreporter.com
Santa Fe Reporter