The High Point of the Evening
I have no moral objection to drug use, nor do I make a judgment about anybody who chooses to fry their brain or spiral downward into a substance abuse-induced vortex, as long as it doesn't bother anyone else or place a financial burden on society. I feel the same way about it as I do choosing to ride a motorcycle without a helmet, if someone wants to crack their skull open don't ask me to pay for it. My drug of choice has always been booze, and I admit that at times in my life I've abused it and been a danger to myself and others, and that's reprehensible. But one of the things that's always turned me off most about drugs is the ritualistic social aspect of it. The moment when you're at someone's house in a group of people and the little bags of marijuana and envelopes of cigarette paper come out, when intelligent conversation screeches to a halt and everyone watches eagerly as the joints are rolled, when the little devils are passed around and the guests sit in a circle sucking in the smoke and turning red as they hold their breath, has always seemed incredibly goofy to me. I'm also turned off by the co-mingling of spit. The most fascinating drug experience I ever had was in Teheran, back in the 70's. It was at a posh affair in an elegant home, and at a certain point after the dinner had been served and we'd moved on to cognac, white-gloved servants appeared and glided silently among the assembled with silver salvers bearing opium pipes. Now that's style, even if it was still unhygienic. At least they were upper class germs.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:00 AM
11 Comments:
My physician used to call motorcycles (In the days before helmets) transplantmobiles. roger
And a doctor I encountered in an ER as I lay in pain on a gurney called them murdercycles. He had no sympathy.
God, I was boring in the 70's. The most I did was to get drunk on Southern Comfort at university. Never indulged again after that episode. Thought I was going to die, then thought that I was not going to die but wanted to just to stop the sickness. After that never went near drugs for fear of getting that sick again.
Great cartoon and wonderful commentaty.
Geez John... you've really been around! White gloves... an opium den in Tehran? Sheesh! The best I can offer in response would be a rum-fuelled swing on the neighbour's rotary hoist at 5 am one New Year's Day. I was young and silly... ahhhh those were the days *sigh* LOL
>>The moment when you're at someone's house in a group of people and the little bags of marijuana and envelopes of cigarette paper come out, when intelligent conversation screeches to a halt … has always seemed incredibly goofy to me.<<
Goofy, surely. Stupid, yes! Way back in the dim 60s I could never understood the attraction of such community activities as passing the bong around. (Then again, I also thought Rock & Roll was only a fad and would soon be gone.) One social activity which has endured, even prevailed into our time is the custom of literate men and women sitting at a bar and getting a buzz on. As the libations are consumed, the laughter and wit increases. As in all forms of social intercourse there is always the risk of excess, but by then most of us are too drunk to notice.
CORRECTION:
Should read "I never understood"
Lee, you might be surprised at how much you actually have done. I know I thought I was really boring until a kid in my high school class introduced me to a little game called "never have I ever".
Everyone starts out with 10 fingers up. All playing then will say "never have I ever...." and then something they have never done. If you HAVE done it, one of your fingers go down. The game is supposed to be played with shots of whiskey; one shot for every question you can answer affirmatively.
The point of the game is to find out just how far people have gone, and see who gets out first.
I was the first one out, despite never having taken any kind of illegal drug.
But that was because activities I've always considered legitimate and innocent, when taken out of context, can make you seem pretty wild and crazy.
For example to the "never have I ever posed nude", I had to put a finger down. In college, I posed for art classes in the nude. Hardly porn!
And to the "never have I ever gone past first base with a gay person", I had to put down a finger to that, too, despite the fact I'm female and he was a gay man.
Skinny dipping? Yeah, sure. With a bunch of gay guys, none of whom noticed, much less cared.
So maybe you weren't so boring after all. You just need better press!
This reminds me of the wit, a famous author and notorious drunk, who said, "I don't get drunk at parties in order to be more interesting, I do it so other people will be more interesting.
Oscar Levant, that great wit and madman, once claimed he was thrown out of a mental hospital for depressing the other patients. He had this to say about drinking: “I don't drink. I don't like it. It makes me feel good” but “I envy people who (do) - at least they know what to blame everything on.”
My favorite drinking quote is attributed to Winston Churchill, and one I've been tempted to use myself on more than one occasion. When another guest at a party he was attending accused him of being drunk he replied, " I may be drunk, but you ugly. In the morning I shall be sober."
I also agree with Benjamin Franklin, "Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy".
And then there was comedian Joe E. Lewis, who said "I don't drink any more. Just the same amount."
But I've always loved the Charlie McCarthy-W.C. Fields routine where Fields tells Charlie he's been institutionalized because he's seeing birds. Charlie asks if they're big. "No, very small," Fields answers. "Do you need glasses to see them?" Charlie asks. "Yep," Fields drones, "three or four."
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