It is only mid-January. And I am already in a huff! Why? I will tell you in a minute. Over the past few days, I have had an invitation to my alma mater (well, one of them), the one where I completed my law degree. This is an invitation to an Alumni Law Dinner. There will be speeches, prize-giving, and canapes. Good. Good. I like canapes!
Tickets cost £45 per guest. For a three-course meal with wine and soft drinks. Soft drinks? Hold on a minute! Now, I do not drink yet I am expected to pay the same amount for wine as for soft drinks? From my experience, at these types of events, ‘soft drinks’ equates to orange juice (and the cheap, tasteless ones at that, that give me a stomach ache), elderflower squash or tap water with slices of lime and a sprig of mint floating around the said water.
I have been to plenty of do’s where that is all that’s on offer for the non-alcoholics. And it is not right. It is inhospitable and bang out of order. I also think it’s discrimination against those that don’t imbibe.
Why would any self-respecting organisation think that teetotal grown-up adults would be appeased by offering them orange juice and elderflower squash? This sort of thing I would expect to find at a kindergarten party, not at a fancy grown-up adult event. An event that is charging a good chunk of change.
Such practice makes the adults feel like they are being naughty. As if to say ‘You do not drink, here’s a little kiddies’ drink for you. Now go and stand in the naughty corner and nurse your cup of juice.’
The funny thing is there are many non-alcoholic wines on the market – in every supermarket on the planet. So, there is no excuse. And they are even cheaper. Event organisers just cannot be arsed to get them in, that’s what it boils down to. They seem quite happy to treat their teetotal guests with disregard. All this feels to me like discrimination, and it needs to stop!
