We Knew This Was Coming

Whether it actually happens or not, though... MPs vote for blanket ban of public sale of alcohol in Bahrain. Well okay, then.

The article says, "A blanket ban on public sale of alcohol in Bahrain's hotels, restaurants and clubs is what most Member of Parliament want." On Tuesday they voted for a total ban "but agreed to allow consumption in private homes, with supplies providing home delivery." How convenient for the MP's. Anyone who doesn't live in Bahrain is going to have to get a room - a hotel room - and drink there, privately.

The nationwide ban was proposed by Shaikh Jassem Al Saeedi who said, "alcohol was fueling the vice trade and turning the country into a brothel." Forcing people to get hotel rooms is going to prevent that, how? He says, "It is the main reason behind unclean tourism and the consequences the country is facing from increased crime." [Emphasis, mine. Oh my gosh. You have no idea how badly I want to comment on what he said but do not believe that I can do so - not as long as we are here in The Sandbox, anyway.]

So, in the future, then, only private homes will be able to consume those products - no more restaurants, bars. That is an awful lot of revenue that will leave the coffers there. Oh, sure you can tell me that people from Saudi go to Bahrain to shop - and some do - but they also go there to drink. That is NOT a secret. Someone isn't thinking this whole thing through. And there are going to be a lot of upset restaurant owners and bar owners that are going to want to make sure that their profits do not disappear, and considerably, I might add, any time soon.

How much money did both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain make during the past week when school was out and there were 240-something thousand cars that traveled the Causeway to get to Bahrain so people could "go shopping." It is 20 riyals per car to cross. $5.36. [Doing some quick math - for the 228,250 cars that crossed the bridge leaving Saudi to go to Bahrain - that comes out to $1,223,420! In one week. Nope. No one is going to allow that kind of revenue to disappear without a fight.] How much money did those restaurants rake in during that period? There were some 500,000 people that made the trek across the bridge - in those 228,250 cars. We all know that they were NOT all "shopping."

It is going to happen. But not without some protest. Personally, I could care less one way or another. We don't go to Bahrain that often. And I don't do a whole lot of shopping in the Middle East, period. If you get rid of the alcohol, the Causeway will be a breeze - but the only reason we'd bother going shopping in Bahrain is to get pork - and you're trying to take that away, too. When both are gone? We will have no reason to make the trip. Thankfully DH's schedule allows us to be gone for three weeks, every ten weeks. We can go to Singapore, Greece, Amsterdam, the States or wherever and spend our money there. We can go two and a half months without eating bacon or drinking wine and beer. We often do. I can find plenty of other ways to spend our money and it won't be supporting... Oh, never mind.