7. From the Hub...

Bam-BOOZE-led!

A well made margarita is a joyful thing. A sweet martini can make the world that much more fabulous. A shot or twelve of some silly named concoction can make for some mischievous memories; most of which end up with your skirt above your head, and eventually your head resting on cold porcelain.

There is nothing wrong with good cocktails, especially in the company of good friends.

When you are young (before the legal drinking age) sneaking alcohol is a right of passage and another way to rebel…some of the stupidest things you will do while drinking alcohol occur before you turn 21.
When you are legal to drink and possibly for the next 10 plus years; you will have a rip roaring good time, you will burn your candle at both ends, and you will start to realize ever action has a consequence while intoxicated, not that this realization will necessarily stop you.

Somewhere in your thirties there will be a moment when you realize your hangover is no longer cured by eating McDonald’s, drinking plenty of water before and after a night of drinking is smart thinking, and you are still cool even if you don’t do shots.

Somewhere around forty you are smacked in the head with the fact hangovers now last a minimum of two days, going to a club and staying out until 4am is no longer an option, and getting drunk happens unexpectedly and rarely…the days of planning your binge have long since faded away.

So, why did I feel the need to write about drinking?

On my 36^th birthday I was downtown surrounded by friends with a margarita in each hand and two between my feet (last call and my friends wanted to make sure I was hooked up)…I was already lit up like a Christmas tree…I had an epiphany; I no longer belonged here – I was no longer this person.
I watched twenty-something year old girls stumble and fall, and all I wanted to do was help them up and take care of them. I watched middle-aged men chase and gawk after women half their age, and all I wanted to do was tell them they were being pervs and these girls could be their daughters…as intoxicated as I was, I knew what I was witnessing wasn’t entertaining, as it once would have been, it was just sad.

As I was having this epiphany, somewhere across town was a group of young girls, who I knew well, that were probably as intoxicated as I was, and smack dab in the midst of believing the only way to have fun is to be drunk.

I have always been surrounded by girls 15-20 years younger than myself…I had a job where I worked with them, and I have two nieces that are in the same age range. These young women are funny and smart, and it has been my honor to spend time with them.

These girls, like all the girls that came before them, have made stupid decisions and are starting to reap what they have sewn…some of them have gotten DUI’s, some of them have become alcoholics, some of them have failed out of college, and some of them have been injured, both physically and emotionally.

As they, or someone they know has been slammed with a consequence from their actions, remorse and regret has begun to seep in to their lives, unfortunately it is still fleeting.

I want to protect them, I want them to heed my advice, and I want them to not repeat my same mistakes…I can want these things until I am blue in the face, and still I know they have to learn it for themselves.

I want them to know they are loved for who they are, and maybe just maybe, some of us that are “older and wiser” are not passing judgment…we are passing along good advice with no bullshit attached.

I want to be able to have cocktails with them and not worry about the damage they will do to themselves...one day soon I hope, but until then, they can still call anytime for a ride home!

 

Originally published on HubPages ~ October 2011