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Post by Clipper on Jul 23, 2008 10:38:19 GMT -5
Hell, if it weren't for martini sucking politicians, alcohol would probably have ended up on the list of mind altering, illegal drugs by now! LOL!
Do I sound like a recovered drunk? Hmmm. Actually, if one takes a realistic and logical look at the problem, it is just as dangerous, if not more so than smoking weed, or popping prescription drugs.
Personally, I drank more than my share, and loved every sip of it at the time. All I can say, is that now that I have quit, I really cannot find any redeeming benefits to drinking alcohol.
It has been an accepted practice for so long, and people have grown so accustomed to "relaxing" by anesthetizing themselves to one extent or another, that it will not be changed in our lifetime. I could care less what anyone else does with their own liver, as long as they don't drive or get in my face.
It was always my impression that if a person was old enough to fight for their country, they were old enough to buy a six pack, but that is a separate issue.
Without beer and keg parties, a lot more students would make it through college successfully. Without booze a lot of fights, injuries, and deaths would be prevented. Without booze, fewer girls would wake up hung over and pregnant.
I guess one has to get older, and look at the issue from a point of someone that doesn't drink, to see the lack of redeeming features to drinking, as opposed to the damage it does to society.
In the mean time I can only hope that the state police keep up what they are doing to keep young kids from killing themselves and others while drunk. Until politics and business finds a way to carry on without a bottle of gin and a splash of vermouth being the solvent that dissolves the worlds problems and makes transactions go smoother, we are stuck with what we have.
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Post by stoney on Jul 23, 2008 11:05:48 GMT -5
If someone is old enough to go in the military, they should be considered old enough to purchase alcohol. 18 is it.
I agree with Clipper~~pot is a hell of a lot less harmful than booze.
~~Stoney, "Don't bogart that joint, my friend...."
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Post by Disgusted-Daily on Jul 23, 2008 11:18:25 GMT -5
I agree with the drinking age should be 18. We let a 18 yr old go to war with a gun and take a human life or have his life taken but can not legally drink a beer.
This law along with any others will not deter kids from getting alcohol, drugs, tobacco, guns or any other item that they truly want.
I guess it is the law and it needs to be enforced as best as possible. Maybe as stated earlier the youth needs to be held more accountable and also be charged and fined.
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Post by Clipper on Jul 23, 2008 11:21:42 GMT -5
"Bogart that joint?" Hmm. After my time I guess. I only know that terminology from what I hear from younger folks. I only tried smoking weed a couple of times, and found alcohol to be my "drug of choice" hala. I guess I have learned over the years about "blunts, joints, munchies, jones'n, doobie, bongs, nickel bags, and all that other terminology through reading and raising 3 boys. I tried a few hits a couple of times, and got really paranoid, and uneasy. I am not stupid or naive. I am sure all three of my boys have tried it and they may still partake, and the DID INHALE, haha.
I guess the only thing I would be accused of "bogarting" would be my coffee or my diet pepsi, haha. It is a bitch to be so old and dull, LOL.
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Post by Clipper on Jul 23, 2008 11:27:05 GMT -5
HOLY SHIT!!! I just went and googled "bogarting a joint." Wow. there is pages and pages of stuff listed about bogarting joints, haha.
I MUST be getting old, haha. The miracles of the internet! Sheesh!
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Post by stoney on Jul 23, 2008 11:35:20 GMT -5
That's from a song from YOUR TIME, Clipper!! Janis Joplin did it.
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Post by Clipper on Jul 23, 2008 11:56:29 GMT -5
Hmmm. A cultural thing I guess. I was listening to Ricky Nelson, Elvis, Hank Williams, Ernest Tubbs, and others, while my little brother listened to Janis Joplin, and such.
The closest I came to mixing weed, and musicians was when I listened to Willie Nelson in later years, and watched Johnny Paycheck smoke a joint outside the back door of a beer joint in Stillwater Oklahoma, haha. I was leaving through the back door because we were parked in the rear lot. I had bought him a shot of Jack, and he was drinking jack out of a waterglass, plus his smoke, and he was most likely pretty well toasted by the end of the night, haha. It was the night after he was released from Jail in Ohio, and he was playing a little place about the size of the old Partner's Choice on River Road.
His opening remark was "I am glad to be here! In fact, I am glad to be ANYWHERE besides where I was LAST NIGHT at this time!" He had been released from jail that morning, and had flown to Oklahoma City to meet the band, and to start over playing little beer joint gigs.
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Post by wilum47 on Jul 23, 2008 12:21:25 GMT -5
If they're old enough to marry, walk the streets of Iraq and Afghanistan, load Nuclear weapons (had to put that one in), launch planes from a flight line or aircraft carrier and maintain them, go to a police academy, they should be able to have a beer just like we did! Lets face it, this generation of kids make our pasts look like "Life with the Barbarians" and we made it OK.
But the toughest thing I saw when this age change first went in was after a major fire and some of these firemen had been on line for several hours and when we were finally back in service, we had to refuse them the use of the beer machine.
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Post by Clipper on Jul 23, 2008 13:08:56 GMT -5
What is with the fixation on the beer machine Bill? Have ya been hanging around Schrader again??? hahaha! Deerfield had to do the same thing. Hell, I am sure that someone just goes and gets a case or two to refresh the hot and tired guys when they get back to the station.
I remember one bad incident as result of having a beer machine in the firehouse. I belonged to Verona at the time. We had a fire at about midnight or so. We were back in service by 2 AM or so. At about 4 AM we got a call for a "rekindle". I got to the firehouse to find a couple of guys that had stayed there drinking since the original call, and were shitfaced. I almost had to fist fight with one of them to keep him from driving a brand new pumper when he could not even talk without slurring his words. Someone's home was burning, and I was arguing with an asshole that couldn't walk but wanted to drive the firetruck. Does that make sense?
Ask Schrader if we got cold beer when we returned to station as professional firefighters. Beer and firefighting are not a natural pairing, and actually kind of dangerous. It is that kind of stuff that gives vollies a bad name.
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Post by rickolney on Jul 23, 2008 16:53:33 GMT -5
That's from a song from YOUR TIME, Clipper!! Janis Joplin did it. Oucch!  I'm staying out of this. Ha!Ha! No, wait... pot smoking is just as dangerous and most likely moreaddictive. Where the active military is concerned, any under 21 year old with a military Id card should be allowed to drink alcohol. But drive? No. Without my facial hair and with a ball cap on... I sometimes get asked for my proof. No big deal. The clerks should be checking anyone that piques their attention. 'Course, beer and gun powder don't mix. |
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Post by lucy on Jul 23, 2008 21:17:11 GMT -5
I agree with sending in a decoy but to arrest them when there are other criminals selling drugs is crazy. I just feel that they shouldn't be arrested, I think that they should be given a ticket, and lose their job.
When I was 18 my now husband was 21 so when we would go to the bars I always made it clear if they only allowed 21 and over that I was the designated driver and that I wouldn't drink. The bars that we went to were fine with that. I never even tried a sip of drink because I wanted everyone to have a good time. That's not to say that I haven't ever gotten kicked out of a bar for drinking underage. That happened one time when I was in college of all places Nothin Fancy in Vernon. I didn't promise them I wouldn't drink I was already drunk walking into the bar. That seems such long ago.
I do agree with Rick that smoking pot is more addicting and dangerous than drinking. I have a few old friends that partake in that, and can't stop. I wish that would and grow up but everyone has to stop at their own time. I just feel that there comes a time in everyone's life where they need to grow up and stop acting like they did in high school or even college. I do agree with you clipper if i wasn't out partying in college I would've been better off.
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Post by Clipper on Jul 23, 2008 23:12:03 GMT -5
I just like to bust chops on Wilum. He knows a guy that I worked with, and that guy liked his beer at the firehouse too! Hell, I may be a "recovered drunk" but whatever y'all want to do to your own livers is your perogative, LOL. I don't give a damn if you put budweiser on your rice krispies in the morning.
Honestly, all kidding aside, there was a liability issue that brought about the removal of beer machines from the firehouses in most places. Firefighters old enough to drink can drink all they want at the firehouse, but if the fire department "sponsors" the drinking by providing the beer machine, they can be held liable if someone gets drunk on that beer, and hurts or kills someone. I think that was the whole motive behind taking the beer vending machines out of the firehalls.
I hope Bill doesn't take me too seriously. I am only breaking his chops.
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Post by stoney on Jul 24, 2008 11:21:46 GMT -5
"No, wait... pot smoking is just as dangerous and most likely more
addictive."[blockquote][/blockquote]
Rick, you're not serious, are you? Pot is not physically addictive like alcohol can be. And just how is it dangerous? Even if it were dangerous, we don't legislate substances based on how dangerous they are or else tobacco would be outlawed.
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Post by rickolney on Jul 24, 2008 15:29:09 GMT -5
"No, wait... pot smoking is just as dangerous and most likely more
addictive."[blockquote] [/blockquote] Rick, you're not serious, are you? Pot is not physically addictive like alcohol can be. And just how is it dangerous? Even if it were dangerous, we don't legislate substances based on how dangerous they are or else tobacco would be outlawed.[/quote] Serious as a heart attack, Stoney. Smoking pot may not be physically addictive, but it is mentally addictive and often impairs driving skill. In lots of cases, drinking beer or liquor in excess overworks the kidney's. Smoking pot in excess puts Mr. Winkie to sleep, brings on a case of the mad munchies, and has been known to cause euphoric strokeleeosis in unattached males. More doornobs and knotholes have been assaulted in states of this malaise than previously publicly known. Yeah, I made up that last couple of sentences ... but smoking pot can lead to smoking crack in some parts of urban City blight. Hell, even in the most unlikely places! |
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Post by rickolney on Jul 24, 2008 15:32:51 GMT -5
"No, wait... pot smoking is just as dangerous and most likely more
addictive."[blockquote] [/blockquote] Even if it were dangerous, we don't legislate substances based on how dangerous they are or else tobacco would be outlawed.[/quote] No, you're right. But legalizing something that has cumulative effects on society and further generations is a mistake, I think. Don't hate the playa, hate the game.  |
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I'm staying out of this. Ha!Ha!