For those who didn't know, Xenoman is one of my old ex-coworkers, from back in the good ol' days when we used to get paid to play Worms and listen to music.
He's always (well, since I knew him, at least) held a very specific and, frankly a bit unsettling, view of what he refers to as "substances": alcohol, tobacco, and drugs in general.
He doesn't approve of them. Not only does he not use them, but he honestly disapproves of anyone getting drunk, smoking or doing drugs.
Which, to me, is odd, because he was genuinely set back by all this "substance-taking" that was going on. Why would anyone want to do that to himself?! Doesn't the smoker care about his body, about his health?! But, you know, at the same time, why not eat McDonalds for breakfast and lunch 4 days a week... No biggie.
But that's neither here nor there. He's entitled to his opinions, and I'll be damned if I'm going to take them away from him. We are, after all, not in America.
What really irks me about all this is, how does he fucking know? How do you get that God Damned opinion in there, if you have absolutely no clue what you're up against?
Maybe alcohol, I understand, he had a traumatic experience, with all that's entailed by being the only sober person in a gigantic gathering of young piss-ass-drunk high school partiers. Seeing people puke over each other is not quite what they put in beer ads, you know?
Smoking, I guess. I mean, it's easy to be anti-smoking these days. No one's making it hard for anyone to hate smokers, and no one seems to mind that they're confined to -40C temperatures, outside in the winter. It's become like that. So be it.
Drugs? Well, they're illegal, aren't they? I'm sure that's for a reason, right?
Well, you know what? I call bullshit.
There is no way you can lead a full life, in my opinion, if you deny yourself such pleasures. Of course, you're not going to find me saying that smoking's actually good for you, or that the Breakfast of Champions includes Mushrooms and Budweiser. But, come on.
All that "high on life" shit - how about a nice glass of wine with a big juicy steak? Or a glass of beer, once in a while? That's certainly not going to kill you, (and in fact wine is actually good for you) but, really, must you deny yourself that? Are you trying to make a point? Set an example?
Let me tell you who that reminds me of.
I know a girl. Let's call her, oh, I don't know, Diane.
Diane is now, I believe, 26 or so. Maybe 27. Anyways. Not important.
What's important is this: she's a virgin. Not a born-again virgin or anything like that. No. She's a true, real-life, hardcore, virgin. And you know what? She very well intends to stay that way. Forever. She has said, on a few occasions, "I really want to die a virgin". Now, never mind the reasons.
What's your take? You've probably already had sex, or else you should really go, it's past your bedtime. Is it bad? Would you give it up, forever? Remember before you had sex, the first time. Before you were even interested in girls. You didn't care, it wasn't important... If you were inclined to be very introspective, you might have even thought you could go all your life without ever having any sexual relations with any member of the opposite (or same, whichever) sex. But now - would you still do it? How do you picture it, being 40 years without sex?
Now - you can feel a few different ways about Diane. You can laugh and ask why she's not joining a convent. You can wonder why she chooses that. You can pity her because she doesn't know what she's missing. But the core of the business is this: she's forgoing something quite good, that she has absolutely no interest in, most probably because she does not know how good it is.
Now I know you're all expecting me to try to bridge together the concepts of "having sex" and "smoking a joint". Well, it's not going to happen. I'm sure you can draw your own conclusions. And if I'm being unclear, just ask me.
I promise I won't be drunk nor high when I answer.
lundi, juin 28, 2004
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2 commentaires:
I don't disapprove... more like I don't feel comfortable being around people in vastly altered states of consciousness.
All I disapprove of are blatant abuses of said things. Doing stuff until you get ill.
Heck, I don't hate smokers at all! If you want me to be blatantly honest... I think it was foolish to start, but beyond that, that's it. I'd probably be annoyed if you offered ten-year-olds cigarettes and told them that it would be as good for them as vegetables.
Righty-ho.
It's just that it's, from my point of view, completely dishonest to be, say, anti-pot or some such bull until you've tried it yourself.
I know how bad it is to be the only sober person around. It fucking sucks. But who says you can't enjoy yourself a little? I know you're making a conscious decision to not drink at all, and I'm not trying to be pushy and force you to drink beer.
It's just that I don't understand someone who won't even have a beer or a drink, once in a while, with friends. It's much more a social activity than a 'let's all get drunk and piss on cars' thing. It's a bonding thing. It's like sharing a meal. When you get together over a pint of beer, things start to happen. A friendship is made, or reinforced. It is, to me, something akin to smoking the Pipe of Peace with the Indians, in the old days. You're partaking in something greater than just the slight intoxication it procures.
And I know the counterargument: I don't need it to have fun, or something to that regard.
Well, that's also bunk. No one needs beer to have fun. Well, some people do, but they're in a very sad league of their own. It would be easy for me to say that I don't need to roleplay or watch anime to make friends, or have fun with them. That's entirely true, and neither do you.
You do those things because they bring you pleasure, and when you're roleplaying, things start to happen that don't, otherwise.
And that's the whole point.
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