Perspective

We the people

Eighteenth Amendment: Section 1. After one year from the ratification of this article the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from the United States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof for beverage purposes is hereby prohibited.Twenty-First Amendment: Section 1. The eighteenth article of amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby repealed.

By Chris Zuppa
Published July 29, 2007

[Times photo: Chris Zuppa]

His daddy did it. His daddy's daddy did it. Heck, Kevin Coleman admits, he also bootlegged alcohol. But this bartender plays it straight now. On Memorial Day weekend, he drinks a glass of milk. Years of drinking gave him ulcers, though he will have an occasional alcoholic beverage. "I was 1- or 2-years-old, daddy was making homemade beer, and I got into it with my sippy cup," Coleman says. "My daddy used to give me beer in my bottle to get me to sleep. Back then, that's how they took care of things." Coleman, 37, has traveled the country, worked as a truck driver, married, divorced. He hitchhiked into Yeehaw Junction last year, needed a job and found one at the Desert Inn Bar & Restaurant. The place dates back to the 1880s and probably sold alcohol during the Prohibition years. It remains a watering hole today. Legally. It's on the National Register of Historical Places, and a documentary filmmaker is working on a movie about the locale. On any given day, weary travelers will stop for a brief visit, eat a meal and wet their whistle. And Coleman may be there to greet them. "I ain't have a problem serving people," he said. "If that's what they want to do, more power to 'em."

[Last modified July 30, 2007, 08:04:42]