Exactly. Like you, I’d still buy most of my stuff from the state stores, provided I could get the occasional oddball item shipped to my home. The fact that the PLCB prohibits direct-to-consumer alcohol shipping is what grinds me.

A few months ago I tried to special order a bottle of parfait amour (which I looked up on the PLCB site) through a state store. They told me it was unavailable from their distributor (no reason given), so I was out of luck.

Which means that in effect, the Commonwealth of PA has told us that no one can legally have any parfait amour. Ludicrous.

And now, so many of my favourite vineyards in WA State have online ordering of select stuff you’d never find here. Thanks to the PLCB I am not allowed to order anything from anywhere because I live in the fabulously backward Commonwealth of Pennsylvania where they know better than I what I am allowed to purchase online, or want from a wine store. Get the frakkin’ government out of the alcohol business, por favor. What I drink is none of their business.

Dr. Bamboo: If the PLCB would let me order anything by mail or web, I would still buy stuff in their stores. Like most people, I buy a bottle of wine and consume it the same day, often within hours. (Not all by myself — at least, not every time.) I pick a bottle of wine up on the way to the party or coming back from the grocery store to serve that night, and I’m not willing to wait days for it to arrive by mail.

So as a general rule, what I want is to be able to obtain, in a convenient way, stuff that it’s not economical for a retail store to keep in stock.

Ordering something online and then still having to go to the local liquor store when it arrives is not a suitable alternative. I guess it’s better than nothing, but not much better.

I still grate at the monopoly though. It feels like such a scam on the part of the state, telling us that they’re saving us money. As best I can see, they’re saving me money on products I will never want to buy. Feh on that.

My big gripe with the state stores isn’t the inconvenient hours as much as the poor and inconsistent inventory. I’ve found items at one store that aren’t stocked at another store less than a mile away (Monroeville). Also, items that have been on the shelves for months will suddenly disappear, and when asked about it, the staff provides no concrete reason why (or offers any clue as to when the item may be in stock again).

I would still probably buy 99% of my liquor locally, but for some of the more obscure stuff I’d really like to be able to order from out-of-state if the PLCB is going to insist on not stocking it ANYWHERE.

State advocates are painting an emotional/moral spin on a simple supply and demand situation. Harrisburg has benefited greatly from that supply and demand equation, so they are of course reluctant to give it up.

A state-run monopoly is still a monopoly.

I don’t have any reason to doubt Mr. Froese’s claims about his family situation, but I’ve heard that spiel before, from other PLCB employees, just about any time the issue of privatization comes up. It’s a great way to evoke sympathy, but the logic of holding up privatization because it would irritate a couple of powerful groups that like to throw money around in Harrisburg makes little sense.

And let’s be clear — the money is a big deal. The two unions that represent state store employees donated more than $30,000 to state-level candidates in 2006; the Pennsylvania Beer Wholesalers Association, another group with a vested interest in keeping things as they are, donated more than $12,000 to state Sen. Sean Logan of Monroeville — who turned around a few months later and sponsored legislation to keep beer out of grocery stores. Sen. Logan said his concern was keeping alcohol out of the hands of minors. I don’t think he mentioned the five-figure campaign contribution at the public hearing.

Mr. Froese, I’m sorry if it seems like I’m piling on here, but I get tired of this discussion getting steered away from what matters — and that’s the money, if I hadn’t made myself clear already — and towards the kind of whitewashing the unions, trade groups and legislators want us to believe.

Privatization of the state’s alcohol business makes sense for the state’s consumers. And it will never happen until somebody has the nerve to put the consumers at the top of the priority list.

cheers!

If you take pride in your job and you work hard, I think you could find another job. You might even find one that pays more than the one you have now. Better yet, you might consider starting a business on the side to supplement your income centered around something you enjoy doing. Why sell yourself short?