Thank You,
~PvtBuddie
Veteran, Wife, US Army

.I remember this debate, I believe from ten years ago, when the regulation was enacted. The point of removing indecent material from the PX’s and Shoppetts really had nothing to do with taking anything, healthy or unhealthy, away from the soldiers. It was part of a general movement to ask the decision makers in retail, grocery, and convenience stores through out the country to stop selling, or at least displaying, pornographic material, as well as magazines with porn-equivalent covers (read: Cosmo) in stores frequented by people of varying moral sensibilities *and ages.*

Think of it this way: what if the commissary [grocery store] had an unattended table offering, “to adults only,” samples of alcohol.

No… think as parents, here. No, no, not beleaguered parents… as *responsible* parents!

I’m not saying anything really dangerous, now, just a table full of samples of beer, or maybe even wine coolers. I realize it’s that it’s on the parents, first, to know where their little kids are, but even the smallest toddlers can escape sometimes. And don’t most parents trust their kids to walk through the store alone at least a few years before they start letting them make their own decisions about alcohol, or porn?

Now add in the fact that not only can customers leave the magazines where anyone can see them, but here at Fort Bliss, and against AAFES policy, the stock that won’t fit on the top shelf, behind the divider that’s supposed to block the cover images form view, is sometimes just stuck on other, lower shelves. This is the same as putting out the wine cooler samples without any signs or labels, and putting them right next to the juices or fruit-flavored sodas!

.Oh, and for those of you who say that religious motivation shouldn’t have any influence on legal decisions, you may have very logical reasons for thinking so. I suspect that you could get Sgt. Generic to spout off that she agrees with you. I’m just glad that Mrs. Stowe did not.

‘Sides, what’s bible thumpers gonna do? Cry? I say lettem go in our stead and fight with their faith. What’s a soldier gonna do in his free time? Read the bible?