Excellent point. Most of the time when I do go to the bar now, it is for dinner and to meet friends. I may be there for 4 or 5 hours and never have any alcohol. I'm waiting to get pulled over when I leave based on the amount of time that my car has been parked in the lot.
Mr. M and I went out to dinner last night, and each of us had one adult beverage. (As you note, it is possible to patronize an establishment serving intoxicating beverages, and still leave cold sober - unless you're the simple-minded college kid who wrote the article, apparently). Should I have left my little pistol at home, I wonder? But what if we had been accosted in the parking lot?
Whew, so glad it was an uneventful evening!