I enjoy reading John Waelti's columns in The Times. But, I do have to disagree with his most recent one in which he supports a lowering of the legal drinking age. John talks about the culture in Wisconsin of the friendly neighborhood tavern where everyone is welcome, even kids. I, too, remember, way back in the 50s and early 60s sitting in the Green County House with my parents. I would munch those salty beer nuts and enjoy that same orange pop John liked. It was a friendly place.
The culture back then tolerated a lot of things we generally don't do today. In the 50s, 80 percent of adults smoked. Today that number is down to 20 percent. No one wore seat belts back then either. Nowadays three-fourths of the population buckles up. When I was growing up, we had three squares a day. And that usually meant consuming large quantities of red meat. Most of us don't eat like that anymore. Back then drinking and driving were frowned upon, but people did it anyway.
A lot. It was just an accepted fact of life. And when someone was involved in a drunk driving crash, many people thought, "There but for the grace of God go I." The drunk driving death rate back then was horrific. But we tolerated it - with a wink and a nod.
Today, there is much less tolerance for drunk driving. Laws have been stiffened and attitudes changed. But we have a long way to go. So I believe lowering the drinking age back to 18 would be a huge step backward. The current law has resulted in a big drop in the number of drunk-driving-related deaths.
In 1999 I lost my best friend to an underage drunk driver. My friend was in his late thirties, in the prime of his life. He was married and had two middle school children. The 20-year-old woman that hit him had just chugged four beers in a convenience store parking lot. She then drove home. But on the way she hit my friend head-on as he was driving home from work. When interviewed by police, she said she didn't feel drunk so she felt safe to drive. I imagine that all her friends drank, too. She probably thought, "What's the big deal?" She was a product of her culture, I guess. A culture that doesn't tolerate drinking and driving in adults so much anymore. But it is a culture that still says kids will be kids and nothing can be done about it. But cultures have changed. And they can change here, too.
The culture back then tolerated a lot of things we generally don't do today. In the 50s, 80 percent of adults smoked. Today that number is down to 20 percent. No one wore seat belts back then either. Nowadays three-fourths of the population buckles up. When I was growing up, we had three squares a day. And that usually meant consuming large quantities of red meat. Most of us don't eat like that anymore. Back then drinking and driving were frowned upon, but people did it anyway.
A lot. It was just an accepted fact of life. And when someone was involved in a drunk driving crash, many people thought, "There but for the grace of God go I." The drunk driving death rate back then was horrific. But we tolerated it - with a wink and a nod.
Today, there is much less tolerance for drunk driving. Laws have been stiffened and attitudes changed. But we have a long way to go. So I believe lowering the drinking age back to 18 would be a huge step backward. The current law has resulted in a big drop in the number of drunk-driving-related deaths.
In 1999 I lost my best friend to an underage drunk driver. My friend was in his late thirties, in the prime of his life. He was married and had two middle school children. The 20-year-old woman that hit him had just chugged four beers in a convenience store parking lot. She then drove home. But on the way she hit my friend head-on as he was driving home from work. When interviewed by police, she said she didn't feel drunk so she felt safe to drive. I imagine that all her friends drank, too. She probably thought, "What's the big deal?" She was a product of her culture, I guess. A culture that doesn't tolerate drinking and driving in adults so much anymore. But it is a culture that still says kids will be kids and nothing can be done about it. But cultures have changed. And they can change here, too.
