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STEVE CORBETT
Sunday, April 22, 2001 Page: 3A
Even my doctor suggests a glass of red wine each day to stay healthy.
I’ll drink to that.
But how much is too much?
I certainly enjoy that glass of Carlo Rossi Paisano with dinner when I come
home from working out Tuesday and Thursday nights.
I like two or three light Chiantis when we cook pasta or make pizza on
Monday or Wednesday nights.
I splurge on Friday happy hour when we hang out in the kitchen listening to
“The Delfonics” or dancing to Philly doo-wop on the CD player. By the time
the dinner dishes are done, I’ll have had four.
On special occasions I’ll have five glasses of wine in the course of a
start-to-finish evening.
In our alcohol-ridden culture, does my vino consumption constitute a
problem?
As a former longtime beer drinker, I never considered six or eight or even
10 beers in the course of a long night on the town to be abnormal. Back when I
definitely drank too much, I sometimes consumed more than that.
Now, although I’m fine with wine, I’m cutting back. One a day, like my
multiple vitamin, will suffice.
Except for Fridays, of course, when I’ll still dance the stomp and do “the
81” in my kitchen while running my mouth and eating olives and provolone from
Claudio’s in South Philly.
I don’t drink and drive and like starting the weekend with a private party.
But in a region where alcoholism and recklessness fueled by alcohol is a
deeply-rooted and accepted part of the culture, we should pause to consider
our personal drinking habits and related behavior.
The young are watching.
If the kids are sober, that is.
Worse than ever
I’ve recently heard some startling local tales about the drinking habits of
young adults who more and more engage in a strange ceremony of ritual
drinking.
As bad as I’ve been, even at my worst I’ve never gone that far. Nor have
the biggest problem boozers I have known.
Not even alcoholic acquaintances who eventually died as a direct result of
long-term drinking – excluding those who died in drunken car accidents – ever
drank the way some college students are now drinking.
“Happy birthday” now has the most ominous ring to it that I’ve ever
heard.
Instead of 21 birthday candles lined up to be blown out, 21 shots of liquor
are lined up to be swallowed. One after another, the celebrant throws back
shot after shot after sickening shot.
Laughing friends gather for moral support and encouragement.
Puking is allowed.
Friends walk the drunk to the bathroom. Friends hover and bond. Friends
walk the drunk back for more. Friends take the drunk home.
Unconsciousness often ends this crude custom that is becoming an
increasingly accepted rite of passage.
To my knowledge, no Wilkes-Barre college student has yet died from a
birthday alcohol overdose.
But give it time.
Competitive drinking games also seem increasingly popular.
So where are the adult voices of reason who have the power to discourage
such behavior and support young people who avoid such temptation?
A better column would have detailed one of these “welcome to adulthood”
21-shot salutes up close and personal. To have attended one of these sad
debacles, though, would have made me an accomplice.
Especially if the kid died – snuffed out like a cheap candle on an
otherwise big day.
Call Corbett at 829-7215 or e-mail [email protected].