Saturday, September 06, 2008
Drinking age isn't the problem.
This is from a letter to the editor in today's Wall Street Journal. I couldn't paraphrase it as effectively as the writer put it to start with.
"...We learn to drink not from those who love us but in someone's basement, where the focus is speed and avoiding authority. Instead of tasting alcohol out in the open--at dinner, a club or a restaurant, as do minors overseas--we learn to drink secretly and sometimes alone, where a bottle is the sole source of entertainment.
Teach us to drink responsibly; teach us that a glass of wine at dinner isn't such a big deal, that alcohol should enhance an evening, not constitute its total attraction.
Give us clubs and venues where we can learn it's no fun to be incredibly intoxicated and where we'll choose to stick to one or two drinks. And give us a ride or a means of public transportation so we can get home safely.
Or leave us vomiting in someone's basement, getting rushed to the hospital because we had to teach ourselves to drink and we guessed wrong."
"...We learn to drink not from those who love us but in someone's basement, where the focus is speed and avoiding authority. Instead of tasting alcohol out in the open--at dinner, a club or a restaurant, as do minors overseas--we learn to drink secretly and sometimes alone, where a bottle is the sole source of entertainment.
Teach us to drink responsibly; teach us that a glass of wine at dinner isn't such a big deal, that alcohol should enhance an evening, not constitute its total attraction.
Give us clubs and venues where we can learn it's no fun to be incredibly intoxicated and where we'll choose to stick to one or two drinks. And give us a ride or a means of public transportation so we can get home safely.
Or leave us vomiting in someone's basement, getting rushed to the hospital because we had to teach ourselves to drink and we guessed wrong."
Simone Foxman
New York
New York
Labels: alcohol, drunkenness, personal responsibility
