As much as I enjoy attending Debate Club, this next one won't exactly be the first one with a one-sided audience that is largely empty of those most affected by the issue.

For what it's worth, I totally agree with the person who emailed in, and I'm one of the people participating in the debate! If I had my druthers, this would be an all-ages affair. Really, pretty much anything within reason would be an all-ages affair. But here's another way of thinking about the debate that lessens the blow somewhat:

It's pretty clear that people under 21 would support these OLCC changes, and it's equally clear how they would benefit from them. Opinion is more likely to be divided in the 21+ community, and the benefits they would derive from these rule changes (which I think are many) may not be so instantly obvious. So having a debate where older folks (and by that I mean over 21) are likely to show - drawn by the apparently insuperable allure of alcohol - might make for a more interesting and productive discussion.

That's what I said in my reply to that emailer—for rules like this to be a success, they need the support of those who are over 21 and may not see that they have a stake in the conversation (and/or can't remember what it was like to be 18).

Here are some personal observations...note that I can express myself without using the "f" word - this probably is a clue that I am really, really old, but I still can remember being 18!

I enjoy good music of all kinds. I enjoy having people of all ages in the audience as long as they are respectful of the performers and other people who are present - this has very little to do with age.

I used to take my young family to hear music that I liked - in places where alcohol was served - in other states. There were no age barriers to being present, just restrictions on who could be served.

Those children are now old enough to be the parents of most of the Mercury's readers. They have scars but not from the music or being around alcohol.

Some of my least favorite experiences came 25 years ago when I first moved to the Northwest and found that having my under-age daughter with me meant that I could not wait for a restaurant table "in "the lounge," or drop in to a lounge for a cup of coffee to get out of the rain. One daughter - a budding trombone player - once had to sit outside the entrance to a Portland hotel ballroom to listen to a big band play, just because drinks were being served. How stupid is this?

I encourage OLCC to allow responsible people of all ages to enjoy performances together, regardless of whether alcoholic beverages are being served.

...because of our motto of “Dialog, Democracy, and Drinks,”

Yes, protecting the motto surely is more important than including the affected people in the discussion.

B!x, don't bust my balls here. Setting up venues for events like ours takes an enormous amount of work and time, but we've gotten lucky with rontoms--it's perfect in a number of ways.

But, sadly, rontoms isn't in a position to have all-ages events, so we could have held it in an all-ages, alcohol-free venue that wouldn't charge us rent (got any ideas?) or we could hold it at rontoms. We chose having an event over having no event.

Anyway, when was the last time you came to one of our events, Senor Self-Righteous?

What the matter Scott. You can dish it out at others but can't take it?

If it were Weak Willy holding this event this way, you and the others at the Merc would tear them a new one and call it outright hypocrisy, not just some sort of hip "what can you do?" irony.

The Merc, as much as I love it, doesn't get a free pass just because it's the Merc.

But, sadly, rontoms isn't in a position to have all-ages events, so we could have held it in an all-ages, alcohol-free venue that wouldn't charge us rent (got any ideas?)

Are you serious? You're the Portland Mercury, and you couldn't find an all-ages venue to have this debate??? I could find you an all-ages venue. I arrange meetings in all-ages spaces all the time. It's really not that hard if you actually try.

Unbelievable.

An all-ages space that lets us allow adults to drink in the same room, has bar service, is centrally located, and has a good set up for a panel/debate? Tell us about it, for future reference.