COUNTER-POINT: You Shouldn’t Be Allowed To Drink On The Boardwalk

With the announcement that Atlantic City is considering making this summer a "trial period" to allow drinking on the boardwalk, let me present my argument that this is a stupid idea.

What is the number one complaint of people in touristy beach towns like Point Pleasant or Seaside or Belmar?  The loud obnoxious drunks leaving the bar.  Atlantic City was already named the Drunkest Place In New Jersey, and now the plan is to let the drunks roam freely?

I spent years as a member of the Hawk Flight Crew, working events at bars up and down the Shore. I've had beers spilled on me, people get too friendly, people get belligerent, we even were involved in a brawl at a bar in Brielle.  That brawl happened at a very nice, pleasant, dockside establishment, where you would never really expect violent angry drunks. Compare that to AC, where people are already mad over losing rent money or Junior's college fund. When random drunks start getting into fights, this is what you get.

For full disclosure, I am not a drinker. I don't like being around drunk strangers, so I typically avoid crowded bars. Places like New Orleans, where the streets are just full of drunks and urine and vomit sound like Hell to me. I realize that I'm not the target demographic for this law, and AC isn't necessarily looking to cater to people like me. I just know that if the bars of AC open their doors and let customers pour out, the odds of me spending time there drop from slim to none.

I might be a minority in this, does anyone back me up?  Tell me what you think!