Reader: Selling alcohol at Y’s a bad idea for community

I grew up in Brownsboro and am now attending Stephen F. Austin State University. Yesterday, I was appalled to return to town and discover that Y’s Hometown Foods was pushing for a liquor election.

Y’s used to be one of my favorite grocery stores, but from now on I will shop elsewhere, whether Y’s is allowed to sell alcohol or not.

A few things in the article certainly caught my attention — one being when Dusty Wise suggested how much the selling of alcohol would help the city with its sales tax.

While this may be true, the article did not mention how much Mr. Wise stood to make by selling alcohol.

Sure, it will help the town but it is sure to pad his pockets even more.

Another thing is when Mr. Wise said that he would not knowingly sell alcohol to a minor. Selling alcohol to minors is not the real problem here.

The problem is that adults will buy alcohol for minors even though it’s against the law.

A recent survey noted that 25.1 percent of eighth graders nationwide have been drunk at least once. Certainly, no one is selling alcohol to eighth graders, so someone must be buying it for them.

One last point is the employees working at Y’s. I know many high-school students who work there who are younger than 18. Texas law states that anyone working where alcohol is sold must be at least 18 years of age.

All of these younger employees who are trying to maintain a job will automatically be unemployed if this passes.

I hope that others who care about our community will also take their grocery shopping elsewhere, and then maybe Mr. Wise will decide it is not such a good idea to sell alcohol at his store.

All figures and statistics can be found at http://www. teenhelp.com/teen-alcoholuse/ teen-alcohol-abuse-statistics. html.

I read the article and noticed that it was very onesided, that it included only the positive aspects of selling alcohol at Y’s.

I figured I would also include a few of the negative aspects just to make it fair, whether this letter gets published or not.

Peyton Williams

Opelika