With 45 years of being in the bar business under his belt, Ron Doty can count on one hand the number of times he’s faced a lawsuit.

It takes just one finger to count the times his insurance company actually had to pay anyone anything. It was that 2004 threat of legal action, though, which resulted in a settlement before any legal paperwork was filed, that played a role in his decision to sell T.J. Finnegan’s Pub a few years early.

“It wasn’t on a drink special night, but it was one of those birthday things where people were going out for their birthday and drinking way more than they should,” he said, adding that he realized then he no longer had the control over his bar he once did. “I wasn’t in control of my own destiny. It got to the point where I didn’t like being a part of it anymore.”

Doty has been in the bar business since 1971, when he bought the former Pappy’s Bar. He changed the name of the bar to the Hurdy Gurdy Saloon in 1973 and drew large crowds by catering to college students.

Many things have changed in the bar business since then, he said. The popularity of live rock bands has fizzled, disco dancing came and went, and the consistent draw of a good comedian isn’t what it used to be. But one of the biggest changes Doty noticed during the past decade or so was the growing lack of respect he was getting from the customers he’s been serving on a nightly basis.

There are too many young people who don’t respect bar owners, bar employees, the potential dangers of the liquor they’re consuming or the police officers who eventually have to deal with them when they’ve finally pushed the limits, Doty said.

“The majority of the people want to have a couple drinks and have a good time,” he said. “But there are a certain number who are just out to get drunk. They’ve always been there, but it’s a crowd that seems to be growing.”

Not alone

Doty isn’t the only person who has noticed the change.

“There does seem to be a righteous attitude from some students, an attitude that they have a right to drink,” said Wendy Schuh, Minnesota State University assistant director of student health services.

The university is working to change that by changing the perception of some students that you have to drink to have fun. She said statistics show it to be working because more students are choosing to not drink at all, or drink responsibly if they do occasionally choose to use alcohol. But statistics also show the relatively small number of students who are high-risk drinkers also has been growing for several years.

College students between the ages of 18 and 24 are more likely to drink than other young people in the same age group, according to national statistics, Schuh added. She said that might have something to do with the fact college students tend to be around people of the same age group more often, and they have more opportunity to drink than young people with full-time jobs and, possibly, a family to feed.

Heavy drinking has contributed to a late-night downtown atmosphere that has become a strain for the Mankato Police Department. Deputy Director of Public Safety Matt Westermayer has estimated it costs the city about $75,000 annually to provide the extra patrols needed to control downtown partiers during bar hours, then disperse the crowds of young people after bars close at 2 a.m.

The cost of late-night patrols is minimal to the overall costs of high-risk drinking, Westermayer said. It doesn’t include the costs of the many trips made to detoxification centers or a hospital emergency room, the property damage done by drunks during a busy night downtown, or treatment costs for those who eventually decide they need help to quit drinking.

“I think it would just be incredibly shocking to see the total cost if you sat down and figured in everything,” Westermayer said. “It’s a community problem, a societal problem, and we bear a large share of those hands-on costs.”