The man in the corner of the pool has had too much to drink. It’s a compassionate assumption for a man speaking loud and without reserve. He tells about the better game of golf, when everyone is blitzed because no one cares how much money he loses from betting at each hole.
I have two friends for whom I have great respect. They don’t know one another but their life experiences are parallel. As young men, they both served in Washington DC as congressional interns. Each man tells of his excited anticipation for life in the capital, the shared love of the constitution, the determination to uphold the laws of the land, the chance to rub shoulders with men like George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton; the dream of walking through the capital, hearing the Supreme Court deliberate, watching a congressional debate, catching a glimpse of the president.
But each man walked away from his internship with a disenchanted view of his idealized government: the parties, the alcohol, the drunks.
Years later, trillion dollar national debt, documented and hidden scandalous behavior, bipartisan behavior that renders our government dysfunctional, one has to wonder if things are so because of the common and socially accepted behavior that includes alcohol.
I have two friends for whom I have great respect. They don’t know one another but their life experiences are parallel. As young men, they both served in Washington DC as congressional interns. Each man tells of his excited anticipation for life in the capital, the shared love of the constitution, the determination to uphold the laws of the land, the chance to rub shoulders with men like George Washington, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton; the dream of walking through the capital, hearing the Supreme Court deliberate, watching a congressional debate, catching a glimpse of the president.
But each man walked away from his internship with a disenchanted view of his idealized government: the parties, the alcohol, the drunks.
Years later, trillion dollar national debt, documented and hidden scandalous behavior, bipartisan behavior that renders our government dysfunctional, one has to wonder if things are so because of the common and socially accepted behavior that includes alcohol.
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