Thursday, May 1, 2014

How is a Pit Bull* like another Shot 'o Whiskey?

Like riddles?  Well, I'll be upfront about this one, and tell you I'm not going to give you the answer, I'll just let you come up with one yourself.

I'm just going to babble awhile and see what you come up with.

See, I was talking to a alcoholic/former alcoholic/recovering alcoholic/whatever they call themselves these days, and he told me how, back in the day (early '90's), the guys would joke about the "dwee's" they'd get.

"What's a dwee?", says I.

He says, "DWI.  They were DWI's back then, not DUI's."

Well, hell, times sure have changed, I though, because I DO remember when  driving drunk was funny, in fact being drunk in public was the height of hilarity, remember?

We're talking the tail end of the vaudevillian's lives, and there were still comedians making money off of the funny drunk acts, and stand ups were making jokes about blackouts and Deano, OMG, do you remember Dean Martin?  If not, just hit youtube and search on Deano and Drunk. 

People would bang up their cars and laugh about it.

More to the point, people would kill and injure folks while they were driving under the influence, and they might, might, get a DWI.

Remember that?

Killing someone after you've gotten yourself so drunk you can barely stand, then sliding behind the wheel and mowing that poor person over was considered an "unfortunate accident".

Oh, but plenty of people drove while drunk and DIDN'T have an "accident", so how do you know my drunk driving caused the "accident", officer?

Anyone can have an "accident", after all.

Yep, I remember those arguments, because I remember the birth of MADD.

Remember MADD?  Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

A small committed organization that took on popular culture and actually made a difference, IMO.

It didn't happen overnight, though.  My friend's story about guys joking about dwee's was 5-6 years or so after MADD came on the scene.  Even now, as he pointed out, there are folks driving around with multiple DUI's and still have their licenses, but I tell you, it's a lot better than it used to be.

These days, you kill or maim someone while drunk, you'll do time.

Now, what was my point?  Oh yeah, pit bull owners are always having these "unfortunate accidents", so how are these "capable dogs" like another shot of whiskey?


*For this exercise, the term "Pit Bull" will stand in for what some folk refer to as "Capable Dog", meaning "My dog can shred a door/goat/Maltese/arm/leg/mailman faster than yours can, neener, neener".

4 comments:

  1. it's too early for me to tackle riddles. need more coffee but excellent points as always cazz. i always miss your thoughts on the subject.

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  2. Thanks Cazz! I was in at the beginning for MADD and I'm hoping for the same success for efforts to regulate dangerous dogs and protect the lives of the innocent.

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  3. This is excellent. Times DO change, and it takes is a small, committed band of persistent people to get the tide turning. These people are generally the victims and their families, and are riding a wave of increasing, violent, visible, deaths.
    Can you imagine, instead of a wrecked car, displayed on the lawn before prom, to scare kids out of drunk driving (MADD tactic back when I was in HS), there would be some pics of pit damage in front of the animal shelter?

    It reminds me of what I do when I get down about the BSL bans being passed; I review what happened with gay marriage over the last decade.

    Less than decade ago, state after state passed laws- constitutional amendments even!- banning same sex marriage. They defined marriage as one man, one women, and made it clear this was how it was going to be. The anti gay activists were full of pride, they were SURE they beat the scourge of gays getting married! Even CALIFORNIA saw their already legal, gay marriage, overturned.
    Liberals and gay marriage supporters were very down. I remember thinking- will things ever change?
    Fast forward 5 years.
    The tide started to turn, mostly because of the hard work of a minority. These laws were being challenged all over.
    Then, add a few more years, and see the tidal wave of reversals.
    By now, most have been ruled against, removed, and otherwise wiped off the books. Even in some of the least likely of places! All of a sudden, anti gay advocates were down. And gays were getting married all over. Even allowed in the military.

    No matter your take on gay marriage, you have to admit, the change was thorough. I can see this happening with BSL as well, because banning locals from being able to self govern is just not wise. They pass them because it's an easy political win for them, and makes their donors happy, but that can change in a heartbeat. We can make it change.

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  4. Same with smoking.
    I am glad things can change like this, it cannot happen fast enough with these monsters.

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