Apparently in Texas, you can get arrested for public intoxication even if you’re in the safety of a bar. This, to me, doesn’t seem like much of a laughing matter, but Reuters has it categorized in it’s “Oddly Enough” section, which is typically reserved for “kooky” and humorous type news items:

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - Texas has begun sending undercover agents into bars to arrest drinkers for being drunk, a spokeswoman for the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission said on Wednesday.

The first sting operation was conducted recently in a Dallas suburb where agents infiltrated 36 bars and arrested 30 people for public intoxication, said the commission’s Carolyn Beck.

Being in a bar does not exempt one from the state laws against public drunkeness, Beck said.

The goal, she said, was to detain drunks before they leave a bar and go do something dangerous like drive a car.

“We feel that the only way we’re going to get at the drunk driving problem and the problem of people hurting each other while drunk is by crackdowns like this,” she said.

“There are a lot of dangerous and stupid things people do when they’re intoxicated, other than get behind the wheel of a car,” Beck said. “People walk out into traffic and get run over, people jump off of balconies trying to reach a swimming pool and miss.”

She said the sting operations would continue throughout the state.

Talk about a double bind being handed down by the state: We want you to consume alcohol which has the potential to get you drunk, but once you get drunk, we will arrest you, even though we’ve enabled you to get drunk. But don’t worry, because we’re doing it to protect you. This kind of governmental thinking scares the shit out of me because it seems to be getting more and more widespread - not just with regards to drinking, but all over. “Oddly Enough” - what a quaint way of saying we’re all fucked.