Utah is weird.

There, I said it. It's just a plain weird place to live. I went to a picnic the other day, and the most distinguishing characteristics about it were the utter lack of any minorities, any alcohol, and the undercooked hamburgers busily worked over by a tall white guy named Brian. There were hordes of smiling white faces eating rare burgers with perfect teeth, while fat, pink babies crawled or toddled on the grass.

I grew up near Washington, D.C. Ethnic and habit diversity is something I'm used to. The monoculture of race and habit is unsettling.

Utah is also weird for its unique restriction on the distribution of "hard liquor". Only three places are allowed to sell hard liquor: state-owned liquor stores that make an enormous profit, "private clubs" that in any other state would be called "bars", and restaurants which derive more than 50% of their gross profits from the sale of foodstuffs other than alcohol. You aren't allowed to have an open container of alcohol anywhere in public in Salt Lake City, Park City, and a number of other municipalities.