"Really...Not So Much!!"

On first blush the image of this drunken teenager passed out with his head in a public urinal may invoke an immediate humorous response. However, when the laughter fades away one should ask oneself is it really that funny?

On Wednesday of this week I posted a two-part satirical piece on two newspaper articles I read that touted the economic stability of the lingerie industry and an Australian based study which purported that males who consume alcohol - as opposed to those who abstain - are better able to perform sexually. Being the egotist that I am, I thought I did a pretty good job of poking fun at the reasons why folks continue to purchase unabated those frilly "unmentionables," and especially at the ludicrous study that would have one accept as fact that the copious consumption of alcohol in anyway enhances a male's ability to perform sexually. Another look at the guy with his face planted in the urinal should speak to the undeniable fact that in his present state of total inebriation, he is incapable of even obtaining an upright, standing position much less entertain any cohesive thoughts or ability to consummate a sexual encounter.

My post garnered an unsolicited "comment" from a lady who resides in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, who didn't mince words when she classified my article as "nothing but rubbish! - utter bunkum!" - going on to say, "What you're doing here is encouraging alcohol drink & while you may think there's no harm, well, you're painfully wrong!" My initial reaction was, "Whoa Lady! What's got you so bent out of shape?" So, I decided to do a little investigating to try and determine the basis for her scathing dislike of my article. I discovered that she also is a blogger and has two blogs devoted to her late husband and the catastrophic effects that the continuous, life-long consumption of alcohol can have on an individual's life. I strongly encourage you to read both, which can be accessed at the following Web-Blog addresses: http://www.shelia-mygary.blogspot.com/ and http://www.shelia-sigibbs.blogspot.com/.

Shelia's story is a profound expose on the insidious dangers of alcohol, the effects of which may lie dormant for years until the devastating health consequences ravish a person's life. Shelia's husband, Gary, lost his life as a direct consequence of his early life's continuous over-indulgence of alcohol, and even now Shelia is suffering the unrelenting afflictions of Grand-Mal seizures, blindness, deafness, failing liver function, and heart attack. Shelia's story is indeed a living testimony for bad choices, but her present day testimony is not one that seeks condolence or pity, but rather, as a strong woman of profound Christian faith, she is reaching out as best she knows how to sound the much needed alarm that there are dire penalties that could easily be paid at the end of the long road taken with strong drink in hand.

I am not so bold or "holier-than-thou" than to prop myself upon a soap box and suggest that everyone should abstain completely from the consumption of alcohol. That would be hypocritical on my part. However, I am smart enough to realize that there but by the grace of God go I. A law of physics states, "For every action there is a reaction." My personal failure to ignore the potentially additive nature of alcohol each time I elect to consume an alcoholic beverage flirts with a latent reaction that could hold immediate or eventual destructive and irreversible consequence. Shelia's story is testimony to those potential and real dangers. I am glad that she took me to task and rebuked my off-the-cuff attitude toward the casual acceptance that there are not inherent dangers that appear so innocently lurking in the liquids of adult beverages. I, you and we should chose to consume these beverages with an understanding that there is a real and dangerous risk involved. To offhandedly assume such dangers do not exist is to do so at our own peril.