Welcome to Western Weekend.
Kalamazoo will be swarmed with thousands of Chippewa fans all "tooling" their vehicles to the city Elvis calls home and Glenn Miller sang about "the sweetest girl" he ever knew.
While cruising the highways (yes, M-20 counts as one), and K'zoo metroplex this weekend, a lot of Chippewas will be indulging in pleasures of the bottle.
Alcohol.
Beer. Booze. Slammers. Shots.
And, undoubtedly, there will be war stories told over and over again during the next few years - macho tales of drinking the keg in one take, and the hangover that lasted until Thanksgiving.
Some of these "brains" will have the audacity to cruise the streets while, or after, cannonballing another 12-ounce curl.
These are the same lameheads who laugh at such well-intended and meaningful programs as National Collegiate Alcohol Awareness Week and PRIDE's Red Ribbon day.
There's two sets of rules we play by when it comes to alcohol.
And I'm tired of the double standard.
We same the same rhetoric over and over again, from our alcohol awareness messengers. From MADD. From SADD. From physicians and medical professionals across the world.
Alcohol kills.
Alcohol impairs.
Alcohol alters the mind.
Yes, we hear this. We see this. The message is drilled at us constantly.
Problem is, we don't learn this. We've become immune from the truth.
And we're all to blame.. You and I.
We condone alcohol abuse by putting up with Spuds, Alex and our other cozy, cute friends on the video screen.
We accept the sports advertising blitz from Miller, Anheuser-Busch and the rest of the brewing entourage.
We offer drinks to our friends the moment they walk through the door.
We let ourselves buy "just one more" because we can handle it. C'mon, we're college students. It's the other guy who's a lightweight. Let's do another bong. We've got all night.
And it's a lie. A charade.
The ACLU is opposed to checkpoints on Michigan roadways. The proposed purpose of these checkpoints is to stop cars at random to see if the driver of passengers are drunk. The intent is, of course, to keep the roads as safe as possible.
Well, the ACLU says this is a violation of our civil rights, that these rights would be infringed upon.
Uh-huh. Tell the families of any victim in a drunk-related accident it was his or her civil right to die because a drunk driver ran a red light at 80 miles an hour, oblivious to reality.
Funny how civil rights can sometimes be the opposite of logic.
When you read or hear from the media about a drunk-related accident or situation, it often involves someone in the public spotlight - like an athlete. Which leads to another double standard.
Do we expect too much out of our sports stars and other public figures? We celebrate the talents of a Bob Probert, a Petr Klima, a Bruce Kimball. And if they do something stupid, like drinking and driving, well - hey! - they're famous.
Well, let me say this about that. It's donkey dung and it's a weak alibi. Why is it OK for one of them to avoid punishment if you can't? No one is above the law. Athlete of not, famous or not, whether you've had one, two or three too many is beside the point. male or female, black or white, it's all the same.
Drunk is drunk.
And breathalyzers have no bias, no sexual preference.
the saddest, most heart-wrenching detail of this whole masquerade is drinking and driving is all too common in this nation. If it weren't, acronyms such as MADD and SADD wouldn't exist. The awareness factor is a start, though. Give it a couple of years, and we'll be dealing with the next phase of the "we-won't-take-this-crap-anymore" attitude - currently the battle cry of the non-smoker.
What can we do in the meantime? I wish I knew the answers. But I have a few gut feelings I'd like you to consider.
First, STOP accepting that athletes and other famous individuals are above the law, that they're allowed to drink simply on the basis of a household name.
Second, REALIZE there's a limit. Don't assume a friend will watch over you constantly. Most people don't accept that they're drunk when, in fact, they are.
Third, THINK. Odds are, when you're leaving a party or bar with a few under the belt, there will be at least one drunk in the vicinity. A drunk behind the wheel is just as deadly as a drunk staggering across an intersection, weaving through oncoming traffic.
Finally, LEARN that - as much as you may wish - alcohol-related accidents don't always happen to the "other guy." They can happen to anyone, anywhere. even to you. And you don't have to be the one who was drinking.
That's the sober truth.
This article originally appeared in Central Michigan Life.
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