User blog:Mrdaimion/Serious Sam - Issue 2 - Alcohol

Welcome to “Serious Sam” (not a reference to the video game by the way; just that my real name's Sam), where I'll talk about really serious topics that no-one else does out of fear how people will react (plus, it's hard to find an excuse in a conversation to say “so, how about them racists?”). I'll share my own, personal opinions on the topics I bring up, and just because I may have a different opinion on the topic then you might have doesn't mean I don't respect your opinion- so, I hope that you extend the same courtesy to me and don't leave a comment raging about how I'm totally wrong.

With that away, onto today's subject, which is:

TODAY'S TOPIC: Alcohol

Well, this one is a real hard-hitting subject for me, actually. For those of you who don't know- as in, almost all of you- my dad, as a college student, drunk and drove, and he either hit something or drove off a mini-cliff, I never bothered to ask. Although it didn't kill him (and people thought it would), it did give him brain damage- the brain damage didn't make him stupider (he's actually a college History Professor) though, it gave him anger problems which turned him into an abusive parent. He never hit me (although he did my brother and mother), but he did yell at me all the time and more or less made me so scared that I'd mess up that- combined with my Autism- he pretty much made it so I never talk to people, afraid that they'll hate me if I mess up (which isn't completely unjustified as most kids found me annoying at my old school [although I've learned to control my Autism a lot better since then]).

But, enough sob stories, the point is, yeah, I very, very strongly oppose heavy drinking. It can not only mess up your life if you do something stupid like my dad did, it also- as you all should know- has more then a fair share of health problems. It can cause heart attacks, liver problems- you name it.

However, that's not to say that I oppose alcohol in general and support everything against alcohol.

The PSAs against alcohol I can't stand (or against any drug, really) as they don't tell you the facts so you won't drink, they just try to scare you so you'll never drink. In reality, for example, there's not “every teen drinks and they all just want you to drink with them but you have to say no” and all that, only one in every five teenagers drink- still a fairly big amount, but much less then the PSAs will have you think. Although, to be fair, these may have some effect in the decision, as of 2011 less teens have been reported to drink then in the thirty-six years the government's been taking the survey (although it may just be people lying about it more).

Also, I actually fully support drinking alcohol in moderation. I'm not planning to drink beer ever- not taking the risk of ending up like my dad- but I still support this entirely. Despite what PSAs may have you thinking, drinking about two-four times a week actually improves your health by decreasing the chance of a heart attack and improving how long you'll live more then it would if you excersized daily and was on a diet. I don't recommend drinking moderately for the health benefits, but it's not a bad thing still.

Anyway, that seems to be a good spot to wrap up this issue of “Serious Sam”. Join us next time when I talk about something else- for those of you curious, there will be a lot of time between Serious Sam issues because I only make these when there's a topic I really feel I should talk about (what inspired me to write this one was Crystal's blog for obvious reasons). Remember to leave your thoughts on this subject in the comments below.