At lunchtime on Thursday, I watched while five Raleigh police officers approached a haggard-looking man sitting on a park bench at the Moore Square bus station, yelling, “Hey! Hey! Hey! Let me see some ID!”
When the officers reached the man, one confiscated his tallboy can of Icehouse and poured it into a nearby planter while another retreated to his police car to write a citation. The crowd nearby groaned and complained, but the offending drinker folded his ticket and stuffed it inside his shirt pocket.
What struck me is that, technically, this Icehouse drinker sat inside the borders of downtown Raleigh’s Sip ‘n’ Stroll District, which the city advertises as “a magical zone where you can enjoy your favorite alcoholic beverages outdoors.”…