In Alaska we drink beer in winter because we haven't much else to do except snowboard and gossip. If we work, we are ridiculously overpaid. Shopping centers are scarce which is okay because we haven't a clue about modern style. So instead we stock up on various beers and liquors and we crowd inside of dirty old bars. People outside of Alaska would call these "dive bars." We call them home because we've never known different. The bars were here before us and they will remain here after us. They house generations of drinkers and sturdy bar stools. We'll never know the intended color of these walls. We haven't thought about it much. In Alaska none of us are alcoholics because all of us are alcoholics. It is one of the best executed plans of denial you will ever find.