That’s the title of Eric Asimov’s column “The Pour,” in The New York Times this morning (here) and repeated on Asimov’s blog on the Times’ website (here). Asimov is probably the most visible commentator in the country about wine, spirits and beer and the industries and cultures that surround them. I have been following “The Pour” online for several years, and I have never seen a post stir up so much controversy and response — at 2:45 this afternoon more than 260 responses.

The question is whether exposing teenagers gradually to alcoholic beverages, beginning with occasional sips of wine or beer at home and proceeding with perhaps a half glass of wine with dinner will teach them moderation and prevent the binge drinking in which too many college students indulge. American collegiate life tends to promote the orgiastic consumption of immense quantities of alcoholic beverages for the sake of drunkenness. Asimov and many of the responders to his post assert that the sensible introduction of alcoholic beverages will encourage young people to be sensible about their choices of when, where and how much they drink. It’s the principle that a forbidden object becomes a focus of fascination, while knowledge brings a sense of familiarity and comfort.

Quite vehement, however, are the posters who disagree and say that the only way to prevent binge drinking is never to allow teenagers exposure to alcohol at all, that only complete abstinence will avert binge drinking in college and an inevitable life of degredation bound for the gutter.

I’m inclined to think that the issues are more complicated than are stated here and that all sorts of familial, generic and personal influences, as well as the circumstances of time, place and peer pressure, dictate how teenagers and college students react to alcoholic beverages and their consumption. Whatever the case, Asimov touched a cord that resonates in American culture, a cord that begins in our Puritan heritage, flows through our whole history of ideological, individual and religious conflict and washes up in our present evangelical and political climate that uneasily confronts the influence of an increasingly permissive media.

Has anyone been keeping up with The New York Times food blog about folks getting sloshed in fine restaurants? Here’s the link: http://dinersjournal.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/31/dining-while-intoxicated/
I was out of town when the original article ran and didn’t read it until someone sent me the blog link. Anyway, it’s obviously not my idea but I’m going to steal it because it’s so trashy and I am lovin’ it. Since we’re not overrun with fine dining here, let’s just say any restaurant. Tell me what you’ve spotted folks around town (no names!) doing when they’ve had one or two too many.

Not that I’m judgin’. I’m just sayin’…