In the New Yorker...

[southendmd]

What is TotT in regard to the New Yorker? Topic of the - ?
(Yay, I'm back on topic again! )

"Talk of the Town".

What is alcopops?

[serious crayons]

What is alcopops?

I know! I'm not surprised there is such a thing, but am surprised that it's a big enough thing to be listed right up there in the big six with Bier and Wein! But also, what my imagination conjures from the word seems like it would be classified in the Bier/Wein/Sekt group rather than with Schnaps.

Thank you so much for that thorough explanation, Chrissi!    I've always wondered about habits and norms in other countries. Do you think they're approximately the same in Germany as they are elsewhere in Europe? Or do they vary a lot from country to country?

It's interesting. Every single you wrote, aside from the legal age being 18 part, sounds approximately like what you might hear from a moderately permissive parent here, except this:

Hannah started drinking alcohol between 15 and 16 with her sports team. Every now and then they celebrate special occasions with sparkling wine in the locker room after the game.

A coach here who allowed teenagers to drink even a small amount of sparkling wine in the locker room after a game would be fired on the spot and it might even be literally a headline-making scandal. Youth athletes who are caught drinking any amount get suspended from their teams.

That's what I mean about alcohol being banned altogether until they reach the magic age. And then, bam -- all bets are off! My own paper's free arts & entertainment weekly section recently ran a cover story called "Which College Bar Are You?" -- depending on your traits and preferences, the article would match you with some popular college binge-drinking hangout. Of course, even many college students can't drink legally, but the article ignored that.

[serious crayons]

Ahem, so getting back to the New Yorker, TotT, a Paul said, is "Talk of the Town," a weekly section featuring an editorial about some major current issue followed by several shorter articles about people or events of note.

[southendmd]

(I see that alcopop = wine cooler, etc.)

[Jeff Wrangler]

A coach here who allowed teenagers to drink even a small amount of sparkling wine in the locker room after a game would be fired on the spot and it might even be literally a headline-making scandal. Youth athletes who are caught drinking any amount get suspended from their teams.

Not to mention that said coach might find his or her ass in jail, since it's illegal to supply alcohol to minors. Here in Pennsylvania, anyway, parents who supply beer for their own kids' parties have gotten in trouble with the law.

(I see that alcopop = wine cooler, etc.)

Darn. I was hoping it might be a booze-infused popsicle. 

[Jeff Wrangler]

Ahem, so getting back to the New Yorker, TotT, a Paul said, is "Talk of the Town," a weekly section featuring an editorial about some major current issue followed by several shorter articles about people or events of note.

First place I ever heard of Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal was in a TotT piece years ago.

[Front-Ranger]

Both my children drank a small glass of wine at the family table during celebratory dinners. But then, my son stopped doing even that, because he is dedicated to his bicycling. When daughter was about 19 or 20 she started making wine with her dad and now, at 25, she makes beer with her husband. I've never seen her tipsy though and she and her husband are very careful to take public transportation or get a ride if they're going to drink. Of course, she didn't drink while pregnant either.

First place I ever heard of Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal was in a TotT piece years ago.

Yes, I remember that piece. It wasn't very flattering to Maggie.

[brianr]

(I see that alcopop = wine cooler, etc.)

Not really that seems to be a Canadian term. Downunder Alcopops are sweetened alcoholic beverages, usually sold in single-serving bottles or cans. Often fruit-flavored and/or carbonated, they closely resemble soda or energy drinks.
Many consider they are worse than beer as they easily lead teenagers into enjoying drinking and can have about 5 to even 12% alcohol.
I think the European rules are very sensible. Both NZ and Australia have big underage drinking problems.
However I thought it hilarious that I had to show my licence to buy an alcoholic drink in some parts of the USA including on Amtrak. I mean I like to think I look young but over 60 with grey hair ??

[serious crayons]

I went to a restaurant just the other night -- in a lively entertainment area frequented by young people -- where the bouncer at the door not only demanded my ID (and those of my companions) but really gave it the once over, as if checking to see whether it might be a fake. I'm 56. 

I once walked out of a California Pizza Kitchen (a national chain -- this was in a Minnesota mall) because I had forgotten my purse and ID at home and they refused to serve me a glass of wine. I was in my late 40s. I was with my then-husband, who had his ID and is five years younger, and my sons, who were about 10 and 12. The waitress refused. She summoned the manager, who also refused to serve me without ID. I was less angry about the wine itself than the rigidity of their stupid rule -- even a manager was not allowed to use plain common sense. I like to think of myself as youthful-ish, but come on. I went to another restaurant in the same mall and ordered a glass with no problem.

I've seen that airport bars are extremely insistent about demanding IDs from everyone. I once stood next to a man who got carded and must have been around 80. He said, "Let me get out my wallet. Can I set my cane on the bar?"

(I see that alcopop = wine cooler, etc.)

I was hoping it might be a booze-infused popsicle. 

I thought of both, but was surprised that either would be lumped with Schnaps rather than with Wein.

Not to mention that said coach might find his or her ass in jail, since it's illegal to supply alcohol to minors. Here in Pennsylvania, anyway, parents who supply beer for their own kids' parties have gotten in trouble with the law.

Good point. It's an extremely serious offense. And if a kid who drinks your supplied alcohol then gets in a car accident ... you are doomed.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Good point. It's an extremely serious offense. And if a kid who drinks your supplied alcohol then gets in a car accident ... you are doomed.

You bet!

(And maybe I should have clarified my comment that it's against the law to supply alcohol to your own minor kids to drink in your own home.)

And just to steer things back to The New Yorker again, I'll add that I enjoyed Joan Acocella's Nov. 11 article on a new translation of The Decameron.