If anyone were to suggest that gathering bunches of people, piling them into a cage in the middle of the street and serving them beer was a good idea, there would well-deserved ridicule. No one could possibly think that there would any merit to that kind of proposal.
But somehow, because of B.C.'s antiquated liquor laws, I found myself in just those circumstances: in a cage, on a street, with a beer in my hand.
I felt like a parody of world leader at the G20 meetings: "Don't let 'em breach the security lines, boys, we've gotta protect them beer drinkers!"
Fortunately, on this night, Squamish's "black bloc" was more interested in attacking the poutine than in attacking the barricades.
Nevertheless, the people on the "outside" of the fence had their fun with us, poking through the fence at the on the "animals" on display, offering us food and commenting on how cute we were.
Well that's what I heard anyway.
The fact that all this happened on the St Jean Baptiste (Québec's fête nationale) celebration only added irony to what was already absurd.
In Québec, of course, drinking in public areas is a droit humain fondamental. Tell a Montrealer that he can't drink a beer while enjoying some outdoor music, and you're likely to end up with a Molson Export poured over your head.
And - lawmakers of B.C. take note! - there's really no more "inappropriate" behaviour at any street event in Québec than there is in B.C., unless, of course, it has to do with hockey.
Go to any outdoor event in la belle province, and you'll find hawkers with trays of beer circulating through the crowd. And you won't find any more public drunkenness or boorish behaviour than you do at similar events in B.C.
The last few weeks have seen lots of action in the downtown core -the Test of Metal pre-party, St. Jean Baptiste, the Sikh Festival and Canada Day -and it's been fun to be in a vibrant downtown.
It's great to see the downtown alive with families eating gelato, kids on bicycles riding around people like pylons, beautiful women in sun dresses smelling of cacao butter, shirtless skateboarders showing off for the crowd and young lovers holding hands.
Kudos need to go out to the people who volunteer their time and their resources to make these events happen downtown. Good on the district too for allowing events like this to take place.
Still, it's too bad the province has its head stuck in the prohibition era and doesn't trust its citizens to act responsibly. Our archaic alcohol laws probably do more to promote illegal behaviour than prevent it.
The fact is I could easily have picked up a six-pack at the beer store and strolled on the street with it and no one would have noticed or cared. I know because from my perch inside the cage, I saw several people doing just that.
But like a trapped animal I could only watch, go back to my trough, and fill up again.
