Ok. The City, institutions of higher learning and various other community groups have had meetings, seminars etc attempting to "educate" these kids on the dangers of drinking downtown. Obviously to little effect. I agree with Rick that the kids today are entirely too self absorbed with their twitter and texts from their so-called friends to really be paying attention to anything that is going on outside of a 1 foot radius of whatever electronic gadget they happen to be holding in their hand at any given moment. A seminar or boot camp for some of these kids (and anyone who has ever spent a night at the Popcorn Tavern has seen a good number of these self absorbed 'twits') to attempt to instill in these wayward souls a sense of personal responsibility would be a good start.
However- I also firmly believe that it is not the State's (read Federal Government, State of Wisconsin, City of La Crosse, or other Government Entity) responsibility to correct what years of permissive parenting have wrought. I say this not to imply that the parents of the deceased were in anyway "Bad Parents" or "Bad People". I look at it from the point of view that the "Great Society" experiment overall seems to be a failure. I have a hard enough time keeping a job, paying my bills, paying my taxes to be expected to correct behaviors of individuals not related to me in any way, shape or form, by way of paying higher taxes, fees or the like.
I also believe on further reflection that the mix of alcohol (beer or distilled spirits) with the new generation of "energy drinks" (Red Bull and the like) makes for a dangerous chemical combination when consumed to excess. Anyone who even marginally paid attention in HS science class should be aware that when mixing a depressant (alcohol) with a stimulant (caffeine) means that one tends to enhance the effects of the other in either a negative or positive way - ie one will cancel the effect of the other or amplify the effect of the other. I seriously believe- and I wonder if there are any empirical scientific studies regarding the mix of alcohol with these so-called energy drinks when consumed by the average American twenty something (either male or female)- that the mix of these two substances, when consumed in excess results in a condition similar to the 'blackout' experienced by hardened and habitual users of alcohol. Meaning that instead of getting happily wasted and communing with the Gods of American Standard before passing out on your buddies' couch, floor, backyard etc., we now have- an amped up on caffeine, BAC of .21 or higher individual- wandering around with no clue (see once again the condition popularly known as the 'black-out'). It also doesn't help that a majority of these unfortunates who ended up deceased were not born and bred in La Crosse and spent their childhoods riding their bikes,using the MTU or walking all over town and therefore inherently knew where the river was in relation to where they were physically at any given moment.
Make no mistake- I am in no way a paragon of virtue when it comes to over consumption of alcohol. I've done my fair share of idiotic things. I have been lucky however in that I had REAL People who cared enough about me to see that I was safe and not in any immediate danger during my all night bouts with John Barleycorn. Because these people took the TIME and CARED enough for me is why I now make the conscious effort to do the same for others I find myself with during social situations- meaning- I've used up my allotment of getting stupid every Saturday night and it's time to pay the piper for the dances I've danced.
I hope that the young kids out there this weekend will take a few hours to turn off their cellphones and actually get to know - in person- the people they are partying with and begin to take some responsibility for their actions- call a cab! Make sure if you give someone a ride- that they ARE where they are supposed to be- rifle through their wallet or purse and find an ID with an address! Or if worse comes to worse- find their damn cellphone and start dialing- sooner or later some one will answer the phone. All it takes is TIME-which means you might not make it back to the bar for last call! Because- once you're dead- TIME in this Life is done. The fact that someone was actually paying attention to their surroundings rather than their twitter, texts or whatever might mean that if there is a "River Killer" they could be caught because someone might actually see something that didn't seem quite right.
However- I also firmly believe that it is not the State's (read Federal Government, State of Wisconsin, City of La Crosse, or other Government Entity) responsibility to correct what years of permissive parenting have wrought. I say this not to imply that the parents of the deceased were in anyway "Bad Parents" or "Bad People". I look at it from the point of view that the "Great Society" experiment overall seems to be a failure. I have a hard enough time keeping a job, paying my bills, paying my taxes to be expected to correct behaviors of individuals not related to me in any way, shape or form, by way of paying higher taxes, fees or the like.
I also believe on further reflection that the mix of alcohol (beer or distilled spirits) with the new generation of "energy drinks" (Red Bull and the like) makes for a dangerous chemical combination when consumed to excess. Anyone who even marginally paid attention in HS science class should be aware that when mixing a depressant (alcohol) with a stimulant (caffeine) means that one tends to enhance the effects of the other in either a negative or positive way - ie one will cancel the effect of the other or amplify the effect of the other. I seriously believe- and I wonder if there are any empirical scientific studies regarding the mix of alcohol with these so-called energy drinks when consumed by the average American twenty something (either male or female)- that the mix of these two substances, when consumed in excess results in a condition similar to the 'blackout' experienced by hardened and habitual users of alcohol. Meaning that instead of getting happily wasted and communing with the Gods of American Standard before passing out on your buddies' couch, floor, backyard etc., we now have- an amped up on caffeine, BAC of .21 or higher individual- wandering around with no clue (see once again the condition popularly known as the 'black-out'). It also doesn't help that a majority of these unfortunates who ended up deceased were not born and bred in La Crosse and spent their childhoods riding their bikes,using the MTU or walking all over town and therefore inherently knew where the river was in relation to where they were physically at any given moment.
Make no mistake- I am in no way a paragon of virtue when it comes to over consumption of alcohol. I've done my fair share of idiotic things. I have been lucky however in that I had REAL People who cared enough about me to see that I was safe and not in any immediate danger during my all night bouts with John Barleycorn. Because these people took the TIME and CARED enough for me is why I now make the conscious effort to do the same for others I find myself with during social situations- meaning- I've used up my allotment of getting stupid every Saturday night and it's time to pay the piper for the dances I've danced.
I hope that the young kids out there this weekend will take a few hours to turn off their cellphones and actually get to know - in person- the people they are partying with and begin to take some responsibility for their actions- call a cab! Make sure if you give someone a ride- that they ARE where they are supposed to be- rifle through their wallet or purse and find an ID with an address! Or if worse comes to worse- find their damn cellphone and start dialing- sooner or later some one will answer the phone. All it takes is TIME-which means you might not make it back to the bar for last call! Because- once you're dead- TIME in this Life is done. The fact that someone was actually paying attention to their surroundings rather than their twitter, texts or whatever might mean that if there is a "River Killer" they could be caught because someone might actually see something that didn't seem quite right.
And we wonder why?
