This really pops my cork

I surely do get tired of seeing the news stories about how dumb we all are. Hardly a week goes by without some story about test scores, how our kids aren't learning enough math and science, how we aren't turning out enough engineers. Of course, they never mention that we continue to lead the world in many categories - throwaway pop music, freestyle snowboarding, movies with predictable endings, and obesity, just to name a few.

So I don't need another story that highlights our numbskullosity. And yet, I get this:

America 'baffled' by screwcaps

Come on, people! Grip it and rip it!

If you take time to read this story, you'll learn that the wine bidness needs to do a better job of educating consumers on why cork is crap and screw caps are better. But there are a lot of knuckle-draggers who cling to the cork, not because of quality but purely because of image concerns. How can you present a hundred dollar bottle to restaurant patrons and then just unscrew it? People have to have a fussy wine service to get their money's worth, they think. But in reality, if I get a bad bottle at a restaurant, I just send it back, right? No skin off my nose. But I do most of my wine drinking at home, and for my money, I'll trade the congenial popping of the cork for an assurance that a expensive bottle I bring home won't be corked. It never fails that when I am at home and try to send a bad bottle back, I get poor service.

So I'm down with screwcaps, pull tabs, ziplocs, Tupperware - whatever it takes - because a good wine is a terrible thing to waste.