Save the Palms!

[billhoward]

... Chapter House is still too much of a walk for some of my friends.

For most people departing and headed home, it's uphill, which is work. But if you're stumbling down drunk, you haven't got as far to fall.

[billhoward]

Places that were mediocre in life take on epic proportions. I probably spent a dozen nights at the Palms; now I'll say it's hundreds. The Palms deserves credit for lasting so long. How many other places can you drink where Kurt Vonnegut could have drunk?

Joe's downtown was always okay never great in its first life. We lamented the passing of an Ithaca landmark, it came back, and again the food is okay not great. But to give credit, it's relatively affordable and that counts for a lot.

[Scersk '97]

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class ... and we'd be busy all afternoon," he said. "But drinking habits have changed.",

then it's a good thing.

Nothing wrong with hitting a happy hour, on occasion.  Indeed, I remember the days when I fit that profile:  have a couple of drinks after class, head home, make dinner, study, go to sleep.  What's wrong with that?

Now, the kids don't make it out before 10PM, ever, for anything.  What are they doing in the interim?  Perhaps some are studying, but I figure that many are wasting their time on the internet, texting, whatever, instead of heading out early.  More time spent socializing would be good for this generation.

"What a difference in this generation!"

[Jim Hyla]

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class ... and we'd be busy all afternoon," he said. "But drinking habits have changed.",

then it's a good thing.

Nothing wrong with hitting a happy hour, on occasion.  Indeed, I remember the days when I fit that profile:  have a couple of drinks after class, head home, make dinner, study, go to sleep.  What's wrong with that?

Now, the kids don't make it out before 10PM, ever, for anything.  What are they doing in the interim?  Perhaps some are studying, but I figure that many are wasting their time on the internet, texting, whatever, instead of heading out early.  More time spent socializing would be good for this generation.

"What a difference in this generation!"

I don't mean to imply that "hitting a happy hour on occasion" is wrong, the vast majority of us, sans Mitt Romney, have done it. It's the amount of drinking that concerned me then and now. I don't know if there is less now, but that was what I was reading into the original quote.

[Luke 05]

I don't think there is less in terms of volume.  It's more concentrated which aligns with the studies showing increasing binge drinking.

[RatushnyFan]

The Palms always seemed odd to me during my tenure ('88-'92)........I lived right across the street but I didn't go there very often.  It seemed pretty quiet until around last call.  Almost as if people went there to connect with friends before moving on to further drinking at someone's home/apartment, food or sleep.  The crowd from 8 pm - 11 pm didn't seem as robust as at other bars.  Maybe I didn't invest enough time there.

Most of my friends lived near Dunbars so we would generally go and watch Pep give beer to the hockey team (no free beer for us despite thousands of dollars "invested" at Dunbars) while Lee worked the co-eds.  If someone was ambitious we might go to Dinos for a while to witness a broader co-ed audience.

Nobody ever accused us of being geniuses, but we had a good time in general.

[billhoward]

Nobody ever accused us of being geniuses, but we had a good time in general.

Shorten it by a word or two, change it to Latin, and you've got a motto worthy of Faber College.
[clear]

[Robb]

The crowd from 8 pm - 11 pm didn't seem as robust as at other bars.

Precisely why it was my favorite, and why I said "a good place to chill with a few friends."  It definitely got packed by last call, but that was my least-favorite time to be there.

[CowbellGuy]

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class ... and we'd be busy all afternoon," he said. "But drinking habits have changed.",

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

[billhoward]

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class ... and we'd be busy all afternoon," he said. "But drinking habits have changed.",

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

[Robb]

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class ... and we'd be busy all afternoon," he said. "But drinking habits have changed.",

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

And Xbox.

[billhoward]

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class ... and we'd be busy all afternoon," he said. "But drinking habits have changed.",

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

And Xbox.

Xbox over meeting Ms. Right at the Palms? What's the world coming to?

[Rosey]

Xbox over meeting Ms. Right at the Palms? What's the world coming to?

There was a lot of this going on, have no fear.

I have to say, while the Palms is a complete dump on the inside, the real appeal is the crowd: on Saturday night, the bar went from basically empty to completely packed with people dancing on the seats in about 5 minutes. I have never seen anything like it. You can't see the dinginess through the wall-to-wall people, but that just points up even more strongly that the venue isn't the important part: it's getting a large number of young people in the same place, dancing on the seats. Surely this will just move elsewhere once the Palms closes?

[ftyuv]

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class ... and we'd be busy all afternoon," he said. "But drinking habits have changed.",

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

And Xbox.

Xbox over meeting Ms. Right at the Palms? What's the world coming to?

Meeting Ms. Right via an online forum you moderate, apparently. Don't knock it!

[Josh '99]

Well, I have to say, if this is the reason it's closing,

"Less than 10 years ago, kids would come out and start drinking after class ... and we'd be busy all afternoon," he said. "But drinking habits have changed.",

then it's a good thing.

Not really. Everyone just pre-games in their residence all night (whether to save money or because no one else is out), then shows up from 11:30p-1:00a and drinks as much as they can in a short span. Not safer and not better for anyone except perhaps the convenience and liquor stores. The drinking's just been displaced and probably exacerbated, not curtailed.

Pre-gaming in residences not bars because of the 21-year drinking age as well?

And Xbox.

Xbox over meeting Ms. Right at the Palms? What's the world coming to?

I have to figure a lot more of the Palms' customers were looking for Ms. Right Now than for Ms. Right, but I think most of us would agree that that's an equally laudable pursuit.