Anyone who's been to Pennsylvania and has tried to buy alcohol will know that liquor laws in the state are complicated and selling wine in supermarkets isn't allowed. In an effort to make things easier for folks who want to pick up a bottle of Pinot noir for the evening's dinner, Pennsylvania has introduced wine vending machines to two grocery stores as a test run.
The machines store the wine, check ID, perform breathalyzer tests, take your money and dispense wine all in the space of about 20 seconds. While it sounds like these machines and an older sibling's ID would be an easy way for underage kids, a human is part of the process to make sure that kind of thing doesn't happen.
The Associated Press' Kathy Matheson explains the process:
Customers who have used the machines think they're a great idea.
"This is just convenient one-stop shopping," Darby Golec, 28, of Enola told the AP. "It'll be nice to have it all in one area."
However, not everyone is so enthusiastic about the machines.
"The process is cumbersome and assumes the worst in Pennsylvania's wine consumers — that we are a bunch of conniving underage drunks," Keith Wallace, president and founder of The Wine School of Philadelphia said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. "(Liquor board) members are clearly detached from reality if they think these machines offer any value to the consumer."
Do you think these machines are a good idea? Let us know in the comments below!
Check out the AP for the full story.
