The more I read these threads, the more I wonder about some of my younger brethren. Often, battle lines are drawn up, cudgels are drawn and the battle starts with all it's verbal abuse, when in reality we all subscribe to the same belief.
Take this booze question. We all agree that anyone flouting the bottle to throttle rules, whether they be 8 hours, 12 hours or 24 hours (depends on the quantity consumed) should be shown the door. Everybody knows the penalty so shouldn't be surprised when the large tome gets thrown at them.
When folks talk about the days of yore and the 'goings on' remember it was a different ball game. Way back, before the breathalizer, we would climb into our MGs or Morris 8s smashed as rats after a thrash in the local pub, and wend our drunken way home. If lucky we got there unscathed, and more to the point hadn't hit anybody else.
As a general rule society smiled indulgently and shook their heads at the foolishness of youth. Even the custodians of the law, with a quick "Allo, Allo, Allo - 'Ad a bit too much to drink 'ave we sir" might send you on your way.
As someone said, Air France and certainly the French Air Force used to partake of a small bottle of the red stuff when flying, and it was always served with lunch in the mess.
Times have changed, and the world(at least in some areas has gained a bit more sense). Society has moved on. When the drink driving rules first came in, there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth from imbibers as a whole who thought the authorities were taking a bloody liberty!! Now, even if some haven't stopped drinking and driving completely - everyone is aware of the consequences.
Think back to flying in the 50s. Think of the weather we operated in. No limits for landing (in the RAF anyway). You either got in or you chickened out and went some where else. Diversion fuel? We've got enough for a couple more circuits. On other threads Flatus and others have joined me in reminiscing over the good old days of flying. In many respects, they weren't. We had a hell of a lot of fun but we sure lost a lot of people who crashed in ignorance of a lot of the dangers. They didn't necessarily take chances - they just didn't know any better!
So when we see guys getting the boot for infringing, lets not wring our hands in righteous indignation - just be grateful for the huge advancement in flight safety awareness.
Here endeth the lesson - you may now all wake up.