the wellness state calls it a crime. we call it a good night.

A group dinner, Friday 20:15. A woman with a reason for every drink she takes finds one on the menu with no reason at all — no function, no benefit — and orders it anyway. Then a second, with even less excuse. Best night she’s had in months. Charge: consumption without justification.

A Sunday, 16:00. A 412-day streak, rings that must close, a body run like a dashboard — and he takes the watch off, has a drink he didn't earn, and lets the rings stay open. Nothing happens. Which was rather the point. Charge: an afternoon that logged nothing.

A bar on a Thursday, 18:50. She lifts her glass and, before it lands, tells a table that asked nothing that she’s earned this — then itemises the ordinary week that paid for it. The prosecution was internal. She volunteered the invoice unprompted. Charge: pleasure, billed to a hard day.