Am I The Only One Who Wonders About This?
I want to preface by saying that one of my favorite things to do is meet my best friend on a summer day at Open Outcry and have a beer, pizza and salad. I also love watching the sunset with a glass of wine. I was not an angel growing up and have had my share of drinks. I’ve made careless decisions when alcohol was involved that I wish I could go back and erase from my memory. I have also been hurt by the consequences of someone who had too many drinks.
That being said, for years since my children entered school on the South Side there is something that I constantly wrestle with . . . Why do so many school and church functions that are family focused have and need alcohol?
I walked into my child’s school recently and was captured by the sign that said, “Brew and Sip” with a graphic image of a beer mug and wine glass.
Not three hours later, I pulled up to my other child’s school with the same sign, “Brew and Sip.”
“What is the message that we are telling our children?”
Our children have learned at a young age that having fun, being at social events, connecting with friends, attending sporting events, etc. all need alcohol and if you aren’t the one drinking . . . well, you may just be a little different and not belong.
Help me understand that alcoholism plagues our neighborhood and yet somehow we celebrate every function from father daughter dances to block parties to parish picnics to little league and football games to fundraisers to funeral luncheons with alcohol.
Help me understand . . . am I the only one who wonders about this?
And in complete transparency, I reached out to both schools who were understanding and saw the point that I was making.
- Carly Carney
(Letters to the Editor in The Villager reflect the opinion of the authors.)
