Earlier this month, the geniuses at the city’s Legislative Assembly passed a decree by which any establishment that dispenses alcohol must serve its last drink by 2:30 a.m. and close its doors by 3:00. For many reasons, I am dismayed. For one thing, Mexico City has a rich libertine history, and it seems a shame that current conservative politicians can, without any sort of referendum, simply erase or paper over that past. Secondly, I don’t like “nanny” governments that presume their citizens are big babies unable to control ourselves or make adult judgments. (It strikes me as unseemly that, at my age, someone else should be deciding at what hour of the day I have my last drink.) What's more, hardworking waiters and bartenders will see their incomes diminished from the absence of those late-night, last-minute drunks who leave extravagant tips.
Finally – what is the point? I believe the law was passed mostly to comfort the wealthy parents of adolescent spawn, who often stay out too late, drink too much and crash their cars. If parents cannot control their children, they shouldn’t look to the government to do the job for them. These kids can likely find somewhere to drink past three in the morning, even if it isn’t a public place, and get into smashups anyway.