Article June 21, 1975 Issue

No Alcohol, No Fun?

Bette Bousquet Mohr and Merelice K. England

Merelice: We were going to give a party for a group of students we had worked with in a college theatrical production. A few weeks before, our friend Mike came over to help us plan it. When we discussed refreshments, Mike exclaimed in astonishment, "What! You're not going to have even beer? Listen, those kids have booze at all their parties. They won't have any fun at all without it. If you don't at least serve beer, the whole thing will be a total flop— a disaster."

Bette: We were stunned! Mike was right when he said these kids were used to drinking. I really started to wonder whether they would enjoy a party without some kind of alcohol.

Merelice: I'm glad we decided to go ahead with the party. But Mike's outburst did make us think more deeply about why we weren't serving drinks. It's one thing to turn down a drink at someone else's party, especially when, as a Christian Scientist, you're used to not drinking, but if we didn't serve alcohol at all, would our guests think we were trying to impose our standards on them? Would they feel our party wasn't fun?

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