Liquor & Furniture

The eminent Washington Post [free registration required] has some wacky writing about liquor and furniture at the beach:

With more than 500,000 people crowding the city’s three beaches over the holiday weekend, spots in the sand are at a premium, and couches, end tables and even lamps are used to stake out party sites. Empty refrigerators are turned on their sides and left overnight until they are filled with beer and ice. San Diego is one of the few California cities to still allow drinking on beaches.

No wonder so many people move here! — put a fridge on the beach and OVERNIGHT it fills with beer and ice! It’s like a loaves and fishes thing! No wonder my rent is so high!
Anyway the writer further says:

Officials proposed outlawing drinking on city beaches earlier this year, but beachgoers balked, and the city compromised with the furniture ban.

Actually, the truth is a little more complex than that, as the San Diego City Website says on their FAQ page:

Question: Am I allowed to have alcohol at pools, recreation centers, in parks and on the bay or beach?
…
Beaches and bays: Alcohol can be consumed on some of San Diego’s beaches from 12:00 noon - 8:00 p.m. Alcohol is prohibited in parking lots adjacent to beaches and beach parks. Alcohol cannot be in glass containers. Posted signs provide rules regarding alcohol policies.

So, effectively alcohol is significantly more prohibited than it was when I was younger. But the furniture thing is just good thinking. How else you gonna get a good spot on the beach? It’s a game of territory, like Risk.