God, I Need a Drink

Mrs. BA has been immersed for the past several months in an endeavor that will come to a head tomorrow night - an auction to benefit the daycare where both of our sons attend. She has lost many nights sleep and if she developed an ulcer, I wouldn't be surprised. But regardless of whatever it has done to her, I am proud of her (I love her, too) and I am absolutely positive that tomorrow night is going to be an awesome event.

Tomorrow night, we will head off to the event to enjoy the fruits of her labors. I will be sure to have a little bit to drink (but I will do so in moderation - I've had some difficulty with that recently). Mrs. BA doesn't drink - it's not that she doesn't like it, she just doesn't. It has always been to my benefit - as I have had a built-in designated driver. And tomorrow night will be even better - as our children will be cared for by my MIL, at her home, not ours. So we can sleep in on Sunday.

Sitting in my Google Reader for some time was this article from The Atlantic (July/August 2009 issue) on how colleges and universities (and high schools) might choose to "Teach Drinking" and perhaps amend the "you must be 21 to drink" laws. I remember turning 21 - I went out at midnight to buy beer. I didn't get carded. It was a huge letdown.

I have often maintained that college life is not reality. The drinking is everywhere and I am a little ashamed to admit that I did not do as well in college partly because of that. But then again, I did a fair amount of my drinking before I turned 21. Would this have helped? Maybe.

John McCardell, the author of the article, maintains:

"Clearly, state laws mandating a minimum drinking age of 21 haven’t eliminated drinking by young adults—they’ve simply driven it underground, where life and health are at greater risk."

McCardell's point is that drinking by underage teens has not been squashed by the federal drinking age. But would the states have a better shot at it?

"They might license 18-year-olds—adults in the eyes of the law—to drink, provided they’ve completed high school, attended an alcohol-education course (that consists of more than temperance lectures and scare tactics), and kept a clean record. They might even mandate alcohol education at a young age. And they might also adopt zero-tolerance laws for drunk drivers of all ages, and require ignition interlocks on their cars. Such initiatives, modeled on driver’s education, might finally reverse the trend of consumption by young people at ever earlier ages."

Then again, who else saw Foxes in high school health class? Wasn't that an attempt to keep us from drinking? Yeah, that didn't work either.