Who needs money when we've got booze?

The unsteady economy has affected us all in some way or another. My father had money tied up in stocks, my mother tried to sell a house, hell, even my lender for my student loans couldn't well, lend. In an odd way though, the bad economy has helped certain professions. I bet you can guess what one of those professions is by looking at my blog name!!! Correct! The bad economy has not stopped people from going out to eat, and drink, and drink some more. I am not the only one who has noticed this trend. As a server of alcohol and food, I definitely can't complain. I do find it quite humorous though when I am serving a table and ask if they would like to add a salad to their meal. They reply, "Does it cost extra," and I say, "Yes, $1.25 extra." They then look to their spouse with worry in their eyes knowing that that extra $1.25 might just break them in this unstable economy, swallow their pride and say, "No, I'd better not...but I will take another beer!" It kinda makes you wonder. I understand that people have their priorities and they must make compromises and sacrifices when times are tough, but they don't seem to budge on booze. It makes perfect sense to me because I am a borderline alcoholic myself, but to the common man alcohol may seem like a luxury. Or should I say it seemed like a luxury before the common man became the poor man who now sits at your local bar and rants about the good ol' days, and how he almost made it big!