Re: Thanks.

Post #98,781 by rcareaga 4/25/03 4:00:15 PM 4/25/03 4:04:22 PM Reply	Re: Thanks. It sounds as though your mother (earlier accounts, or my memories thereof, were unclear--was she also the victim of a toked-up driver?) has been able to put the past behind her. I don't know that you should be quite so resigned to never being able to bring your rational faculties to bear on the issue--I repeat that if you could see the issue clear you could make the best possible case contra to your daughters, whereas if you merely trot out some variation of the RKJ that started this thread unreeling they will, at best, hear you out politely and then make the finger-twirling-at-the-temple gesture when your back is turned, typically a sign that one's arguments have not carried all before them. You're being a bit hard on yourself when you say "I know that I am a bigot of the worst stripe." Your mind may be rusted shut on this issue; we both know members here whose minds are welded shut in other matters. Finally, as to "happy puffing (if you're inclined)," a rather complex set of largely unrelated circumstances make this impractical for the nonce--and anyway, I'd found by my mid-twenties that it was as apt to make me feel stupid and anxious/depressed as it was to boost my spirits. "Hell," thought I, "if I'm going to get stupid, I might as well get stupid and exhilarated," and hoisted the first (I came to it late) of many tall frosties. But whether or not I take personal advantage of it I do hope I live to see the day when the savage and senseless "war on drugs" abates. cordially, {edit: rogue synonym] "Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist." Edited by rcareaga April 25, 2003, 04:04:22 PM EDT Re: Thanks. It sounds as though your mother (earlier accounts, or my memories thereof, were unclear--was she also the victim of a toked-up driver?) has been able to put the past behind her. I don't know that you should be quite so resigned to never being able to bring your rational faculties to bear on the issue--I repeat that if you could see the issue clear you could make the best possible case contra to your daughters, whereas if you merely tell trot out some variation of the RKJ that started this thread unreeling they will, at best, hear you out politely and then make the finger-twirling-at-the-temple gesture when your back is turned, typically a sign that one's arguments have not carried all before them. You're being a bit hard on yourself when you say "I know that I am a bigot of the worst stripe." Your mind may be rusted shut on this issue; we both know members here whose minds are welded shut in other matters. Finally, as to "happy puffing (if you're inclined)," a rather complex set of largely unrelated circumstances make this impractical for the nonce--and anyway, I'd found by my mid-twenties that it was as apt to make me feel stupid and anxious/depressed as it was to boost my spirits. "Hell," thought I, "if I'm going to get stupid, I might as well get stupid and exhilarated," and hoisted the first (I came to it late) of many tall frosties. But whether or not I take personal advantage of it I do hope I live to see the day when the savage and senseless "war on drugs" abates. cordially, "Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist." Collapse All History
Post #98,785 by mmoffitt 4/25/03 4:49:20 PM Reply	Mom was in the car w/the 3 friends. Truly miraculous she survived. EMS found her lying on the gas tank that didn't explode (they were in a VW station wagon - gas tank up front at point of impact). She spent the next two years in various medical centers. Has had a lifetime of medical complications from that accident (as well as profound mental problems - all related, we think, to the fact that at impact the drivers seat bolts broke and the seat with Bob still in it flew out the back of the car, striking my mother on the head in addition to driving her right leg's ball joint up under her collar bone, tearing a lung and exploding her pelvis, among other things). The driver and his wife and the girl seated next to my mom were all killed. The tokers were walking around at the scene (they had a much larger car). Their worst was a broken arm. The car they hit (the one my mom was in) killed 3 and left 4 kids motherless and 2 orphans. Oldest in the car was Bob, aged 36, mom was 34. Hell of a thing. bcnu, Mikem The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. - Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"
Post #98,787 by deSitter 4/25/03 4:58:32 PM Reply	Re: Mom was in the car w/the 3 friends. We all have crosses to bear. The love of my life wiped herself out on coke, something I've never had any use for. I watched another woman destroyed by barbituates. Yet I am in favor of decriminalizing all drugs, because making criminals out of people who are in too much pain to handle life, is the solution to exactly nothing. I'm sorry about your Mom. Would it be any better for her if Billy Graham were driving the other car? Some random drunk? Accidents happen. Driving is dangerous for the sober, as well as the stoned. -drl
Post #98,789 by mmoffitt 4/25/03 5:13:03 PM Reply	BG driver no better, but it wasn't, was it? Understand your sentiment and point, though ;-) bcnu, Mikem The soul and substance of what customarily ranks as patriotism is moral cowardice and always has been...We have thrown away the most valuable asset we had-- the individual's right to oppose both flag and country when he (just he, by himself) believed them to be in the wrong. We have thrown it away; and with it all that was really respectable about that grotesque and laughable word, Patriotism. - Mark Twain, "Monarchical and Republican Patriotism"

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