THE SALE OF ALCOHOL to those underage is a perennial problem more due to the nature of youth than the structure of Rome’s control laws. Tinkering with them is unlikely to much improve the situation, which is hardly dire in these parts, no matter what the Rome Alcohol Control Commission may think as it ponders a revision in its 40-year-old permit/ID rules for servers.

It sounds as though most of the six members are for a change … but is it about fairness (store clerks don’t have to register as wait staff does) or something else? Store clerks don’t serve poured drinks, after all — and aren’t both supposed to ask to see age ID from the customer?

No, this seems more about shifting the monetary burden of punishment (fines but most particularly suspensions of sales for days) from the business involved to fall more heavily on the waiter/waitress. “We need to stiffen the penalties (to) make them (the wait staff) think twice,” said City Commissioner Buzz Wachsteter.

Wachsteter and the others may want to consider asking before proceeding with raising fines on servers (and giving business owners a lesser penalty for laxity) just how much “wait staff” are paid. It is typically less than minimum wage because “tips” are expected to appear. And “wait staff,” like establishments, can already lose their “licenses” and ability to make a livelihood for such a violation as well. Indeed, bars/etc. often fire servers who get detected on the spot.

All concerned might find it advisable to think twice about this, including a public that has a policy saying that if one is old enough to die for one’s country that person if under 21 isn’t old enough to drink. If rule changes affected outcomes then all the prisons would be empty.