Happy hours are a beautiful thing. I am completely in favor of happy hours. 18 months into a pandemic, which features a preventable, air-born disease, I’m updating my thoughts about happy hours. 

Not all happy hours are created equal. Most every bar and restaurant that has a happy hour existed before Covid. It absolutely made sense to have only indoor or only outdoor happy hours before the pandemic. If a business knew their inside or outside would do better with lower prices in certain parts of the bar or restaurant, they had every right to try to make as much money as possible. 

But things change. 

We’re not out of this. D.C. is one of the most vaccinated cities in America and the Delta varient isn’t exactly controlled. But there’s no way bars and restaurants will be shut down and be properly taken care of so bars and restaurants are doing what they can to get by. And that means happy hour and that’s fine but it’s not at all fine when it’s only happy hour indoors when there’s outdoor seating. Here’s why. It’s quite simple. 

When you Google “Covid prevention,” this comes up: 

Avoid crowds and poorly ventilated spaces. The more people you are in contact with, the more likely you are to be exposed to COVID-19.

https://www.google.com/search?q=%22Covid+prevention

This is not news. In theory, we all know this. In reality, if you’re a bar enforcing vaccine requirements or proof of a recent negative Covid test, your know your patrons know this. And if we all know that outside is safer than inside and you’re a bar or restaurant that has happy hour but only indoors, you are part of the problem. 

I’m most likely more sensitive to this since vaccinated friends are getting Covid. And they’re getting it by indoor dining. So any opportunity to support a bar or restaurant outside rather than inside should be prioritized. 

If you have outdoor seating and are encouraging indoor dining, please stop. Just cancel the happy hour. Happy hour is not mandatory.