To me, this past weekend's Santa Stumble was basically a "Drink and Party for Charity". (TAPS - Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) It happens all the time I suppose, when you consider the number of charity events held around the world where alcohol is served - but is there anything wrong with that? After 5 seconds of thought, I think I have to revert to the ideal of "It's a free country, do what you like if you ain't a-harmin' nobody else."

But in this case (opinion beginning here) it did not seem to be much more than an organized bar-hopping venture, where the chosen establishments had agreed to donate in one way or another to the cause - so drinking was the focus, whereas at charity events, drinking is NOT the intended focus, often it's just a secondary thing. But I'm sure that at least *some* of the folks who go to those events see them primarily as a booze-fest, so I can't lean on that argument too much.

I suppose at the end of the day, TAPS got donations, and lots of folks got to socialize and have fun together as a community (hopefully most of them were responsible and did not over-do it, or drink-drive). I think that's a good thing, and maybe i'm just a bit hung up on the negative role alcohol plays in our society, and i should not try to super-impose that onto a charity event. So - hey, xFile1069 - STFU.