Well, it appears as if my HARSH remarks regarding all the local college kids drinking themselves unconscience riled some folks up...
First, let's make sure we are all clear as to what my comments were, they were:
Drinking until they are unconscience (or close)... but this is the barren wasteland and that's what living here might lead you to do...if you are an idiot.The rest of the of that entry is simply an article from the local paper, The Forum.
And I stand by my comments and am not in the least bit feeling guilty about making them.
A person can have a 4.0 GPA, be a rocket scientist and literally the smartest person on the planet. But if you are sucking on the end of a vodka bong with one intention, to get so drunk that you will black out and/or possibly die... I'm sorry, you are an idiot.
Then there's the comments about alcoholics and I don't know what underlying problems they may have... now, I know I'm making an assumption, but I think it is going to be fairly safe... these kids are IN COLLEGE and all of them are MINORS. Now sure, they may be full blown alcoholics, but I'm willing to bet that each and every one of these cases the person made the choice to consume the almost lethal amount of alcohol that they did.
Then you go to today's article: "Death Won't Curb Drinking", whose opening line is:
"The death of one student and the arrest of others on alcohol-related charges grab headlines but do little to change behavior, several Minnesota State University Moorhead students said Monday.
“I’ve heard just as many people wandering around going, ‘I’m going to get totally smashed tonight,’ as I had before,” said Zac Wendler, a junior.."
My point is, is that these kids are making a totally idiotic decision. Yes, when I was younger and in college I liked to go out and party just like anyone. But I NEVER went out with the intention of drinking so much liquor that my life (and others) would be jeopardized. Power Hours - drinking 21 shots in one hour... that's just plain stupid. Vodka bongs, just plain stupid.
Sure, come up with social, political or whatever other excuse you want to pass the blame onto. But the bottomline and the truth of all this, is that these kids CHOSE to drink and then CHOSE to drink more and then CHOSE to drink more and then CHOSE to drink more and then CHOSE to drink until they black out. I think their CHOICE is DUMB. Trying to find fault somewhere else or someone else is just trying to pass blame onto anything that isn't the true cause.
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10 comments:
What choice is there involved in alcoholism?!?!?! Alcoholism, by definition, is:
1 : continued excessive or compulsive use of alcoholic drinks
2 : poisoning by alcohol; especially : a complex chronic psychological and nutritional disorder associated with excessive and usually compulsive drinking
While I do agree that some kids take it too far and can be out of control on a repeated basis, you fail to realize that the nature of the disease itself is a lack of control when it comes to alcohol.
You also fail to realize that newspaper articles from the Forum, etc. and blog posts such as yours further perpetuate the notion that this is the fault of the alcoholic, creating a feeling of invalidation on the part of those trying to remedy this awful disease.
If you feel so strongly, do more than post on your blog. Why don't you tell it to my 19-year old sister Jessica VanDeusen's face that she's a stupid fucking college kid who CHOSE to be an alcoholic, CHOSE to drink herself into oblivion, and CHOSE to drink alone, lie to her family, and manipulate the people she loves in order to get another high. That will aid in her treatment, for certain.
I have intimate experiences with 2 alcoholics, and am aware of their problems.
My comments are directed towards minors that are making the decision to go out and not just drink, but drink to oblivion. That has been my stance from my first entry and continues to be so.
Do I feel so passionate that I need to approach alcoholics (such as your sister) to aid in their rehabilatation? No...it isn't my place. I merely was posting my opinion and observation of a current trend occuring in my community.
You agree with me and my general comments, but you try to elaborate and extrapolate more from my comments because they are mostly accurate and because you have personally been affected by this, can not stand for anyone trying to lessen the reason for these happenings to merely a person being dumb and drinking themselves to death (or nearly so).
I'm sorry... define alcoholism all you want too... I still feel that all these minors that are drinking themselves unconscience are not making smart decisions...bastardize me all you want too...
Since when is there a distinction between alcoholics and minors?
Fuck this. I'm the fuck out of here. I have better things to do with my time than try to reason with some jackass who apparantly has no skeletons in the closet himself and feels the need to pass moral judgment on others. I'm too busy trying to deal with the fact that my sister's an alcoholic than try to reason with people such as yourself, whose flippant comments, sheer ignorance, and blatant disregard for what we may be going through maks it even harder for my family to deal with an issue of such great magnitude.
By the way, in terms of underlying issues (which you so flippantly disregard in this post), my sister was raped last summer. Until you can understand what mental anguish that puts a person through and what it can indeed drive a person to do in order to escape the daily torment of that event, leave your comments to yourself, or at least don't bring up names of someone whose permission you have not obtained.
I hope you feel some amount of remorse for throwing salt on an open wound. I'll make sure I let my sister, who is in rehab, know that you still think it's her fault and her choice. That'll go over well.
Ah... your true colors...
Just curse at me, make more excuses and runaway...
Flippant (according to you) but accurate comments could only bring out this type of reaction...
I wasn't looking to 'tangle' with you, you sought more...and now you don't...and with good reasons. I think if your problems are as you claim them to be, you shouldn't be concerned with some person's blog on the internet that merely made a one-sentence comment when posting a newspaper article...
And run off I will, if that's what you'll call it. I'm off to drink myself into oblivion. Preferrably with expensive rum. When I die of alcohol poisoning or accidentally fall off of my balcony, write about me on your blog, will you? Make sure to make it sound good..."Young graduate student in mid-20s drinks herself into oblivion only days after her sister checked into alcohol rehab. She leaves behind a husband and two cats. What a fucking idiot."
If that will make you feel better, I certainly will...
I guess that the point anonymous is trying to make is that sometimes drinking alcohol is simply out of one's control. I'm sure anonymous would agree that many minors who are by definition not alcoholics do make the unfortunate decision of drinking too much (and believe me, having lived in Moorhead, there's frankly not much more to do around there), but some of the students (including Ms. VanDeusen) clearly have an actual disease that makes the compulsion to drink irresistible. And I think you would agree that having a disease does not make someone an idiot.
I think it all comes down to anonymous taking offense at the fact that you labeled her sister as an idiot just for showing a symptom of her disease. Of course, there's no way that you could have known that Ms. VanDeusen was an alcoholic, but it is dangerous and can be hurtful to make generalizations and assumptions.
Of course, the fact that anon's sister likely is an idiot doesn't help.
You know how hard you have to work to be an alcoholic by 19? Shoot, I've been overconsuming for 20 years and have managed to stay out of the emergency room.
First of all, the correct spelling would be unconscious.
Second of all you people amaze me. Its no wonder i moved away from that fundamentalist christian icy norgeland we call fargo/moorhead.
The media is turning this into a ratings game, otherwise no one would have ever heard of this kid.All of a sudden, every college freshman in fargo/moorhead makes the paper as well as his/her full name and address, just to make sure they re sufficiently humiliated. And this is a new revalation???? Kids 18 years of age drinking? If your 18 year old has sex with another 18 year old girl and contracts an STD, do you pursue legal action against her vagina? He was considered a legal adult, and several years ago, would have been drinking legally since the drinking age used to be 19. No one forced him at gunpoint to drink. It was his own decision being an adult and all.
Sure, if he hadn't been served alcohol in the first place this very well may have not happened. But then he would have just found it somewhere else. The kid drank too much and fell in the river. Its called darwin's law. End of story.
Also, these kids were not alcoholics. They re called COLLEGE KIDS, you fools. College kids have done this crazy thing since the beginning of time as we know it called "drinking?" An alcoholic is someone who wakes up in the morning and instead of a plate of ham and eggs, downs a six pack. Usually due to some life trauma or abuse or deep rooted psychological problem.
If someone accidentally shoots themselves, do we sue the gun manufacturer?
If you get into a car crash, do you go after the car manufacturer?
If you eat too much, get morbidly obese and sick, do you go after red lobster?
If you stick your finger in a light socket, do you go after the electric company?
If you fail to get an A in one of your college courses, do you go after the college professor and/or the institution?
unfortunately, many people do...
if america is lacking in something these days, its PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY!!!!!! Everyone is always looking for a scapegoat with which to escape the inevitable fact that everything was your own fault. Maybe if i hadnt eaten at taco bell last night, i wouldnt be so farty. Hey, i ll just call the cops on them!!!
I dont really care what your alcoholic siblings and friends went through because of that evil thing we call booze. There are lots of places to get help. All i have to say is PERSONAL ADULT CHOICES being made here people!!! If alcohol were illegal, it would be an entirely different story...rant rant rant rant....get your heads out of the sand you goofballs...this country is going further down the toilet with every flush...
I like ham and eggs for breakfast. Also a side of rubbing alcohol, but that's just for effect. Urp.
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