Just moved here from Iowa. I discovered yesterday that y’all have messed up laws about alcohol. Apparently, a business can only sell alcohol on Sundays between 11 and 6, and only with an extra special license above and beyond their usual license. Qualifying for the one license does not mean you have what it takes for the Sunday license??

I went out at 6:30 pm yesterday to buy beer. My bad. Apparently, something happens after 6pm that makes people who consume alcohol a public nuisance worthy of the attention of the MN legislature. Not before 6! But right after! Mayhem! And only on Sundays. I’m not even Christian, but this Christian sensibility is applied to me anyway.

And then today, a Monday, I went to Hy-Vee and bought $50 worth of tequila and accessories and then $20 worth of groceries. But that didn’t net me the gas discount they were giving people who bought more than $60 worth of stuff, because I can’t buy the liquor along with the groceries, due to (I guess) Minnesota law again. They are separate purchases.

WTF Minnesota? I’ve been traveling the country for the past year. I started out in North Carolina. East Coast has ridiculous alcohol sales laws. In NC you can buy beer from a grocery store, but liquor can only be purchased from a state-run ABC store, which has a very limited selection and is closed on the Lord’s Day. Everywhere on the East Coast is like that in some way. But I felt relief when I finally escaped that area. I went from D.C. and Connecticut to Wisconsin and Iowa and then Santa Fe and San Diego. The Midwest and West Coast does not have this hangup about alcohol. Booze in a regular grocery aisle! OMG.

I was very disappointed to learn, however, that MN is an exception and behind even conservative Iowa in its handling of alcohol sales.

Can we get this changed, please? Just common sense. That’s all I’m asking for.