JULIA WILSON
Special to The Leader
I’m not going to tell you not to drink. You’re an adult, in the sense that you’re at college and held to adult standards of conduct, whether or not you’re of legal drinking age. If you enjoy drinking, then you’d better learn to do it right, and obviously a lot of you need some practice at that.
Because you’re not doing it right. Too many of you are drinking more than you can handle, and doing stupid things as a result. And here’s the thing: It’s not funny. It’s not cool. Really, it isn’t.
On Saturday night, there was a wave of property crimes in the Village of Fredonia, all evidently committed by drunk college students. Some friends of mine were victims of these crimes. Drunk college students came up onto their porch and broke a bunch of stuff. Stuff that meant a lot to my friends, that they had created, that can’t be replaced.
Maybe you saw this happen. Maybe a friend of yours was involved. Maybe you didn’t like what was going on, but you were too drunk or too scared to say anything, so you decided to be “cool” about it. Just keep cool. Hey, college kids drink, blow off a little steam, and sometimes they do stupid things. It just happens, so let’s be cool about it. Maybe you’re pretty sure that whoever owned that house is an uptight old fart who deserves to get shaken up a little.
So let’s talk about the people who own that house. My friends are angry. They’re sad, hurt and a little scared. They’re not sleeping as well at night, knowing that their home was violated, and they’re wondering how far it will go next time. Are they in danger? Should they install security cameras? Should they stay up every Saturday night and stand guard? Where are the police? Should we turn our hometown into a police state, with cops and cameras on every corner?
What if this were your hometown, and that was your family’s house? What if drunk college students entered your childhood home and broke stuff? What if your parents were the ones feeling angry and scared? Is this just something that people do, so let’s keep cool?
Yeah, it’s not cool. And you know how they say that if you’re not part of the solution, then you’re part of the problem? Well, you need to be part of the solution. First of all, there are other ways to hang out with friends besides drinking; you don’t have to drink, even if they do. If you drink, control how much and how quickly so that you don’t get raging drunk and go out and do stupid things. If you insist on getting raging drunk, take precautions to keep yourself from going out and doing stupid things. If you’re with people who are drunk and about to do stupid things, say something. Say, “Hey guys, not cool. Seriously not cool. What if this were your mom’s house?”
What, you’re afraid of being “that person?” You’re afraid to speak the truth at a crucial moment? I hate to break it to you, but you’re going to face much more difficult moral crises in life than this, and if you can’t find the courage to speak up when drunk people are about to do stupid things, then that doesn’t bode well for the rest of your life. And if you speak up this time, and other people hear you, then maybe next time they’ll be the ones who speak up. Don’t underestimate the power of your courage.
Still not convinced? Think about this: maybe this time it was about taking a dump on someone’s lawn or breaking some flower pots. Maybe next time someone ends up in the hospital or dead. If you speak up this time, maybe the person who was about to do something stupid will get to thinking a little after he sobers up, and there doesn’t have to be a next time. Don’t underestimate the power of your courage and your voice.
Julia Wilson is professor of mathematics at SUNY Fredonia and a resident of the Village of Fredonia.