Traveling With A Liquid Drug In Your Hand

My first Silas found the motivation to commit to Samson Society via a cataclysmic juncture between his taste for booze (beer) and Louisiana law enforcement.  And unfortunately for him, this juncture occurred during a perfunctory business trip.  I'll never forget the privilege of accompanying him to his arraignment (+/-18 months later).  I watched him stand before the judge to officially start the lengthy legal process of living out the punishment / procedural hurdles for his wrongdoing.  Afterwards, I recall eating lunch with him at Five Guys (my first time) there in Lafayette, and though we were glad to be done with those proceedings, the brevity of what had just occurred within his life as well as the lives of all the other drunks / now criminals, seated itself deep within me.  In the end, it made me thankful that I'd been reared within a household where alcohol was absent.  It sent a message of normalcy downstream from my 'rents.  A message which elevated teetotalers as individuals who could have fun, be funny, feel confident and emotionally whole (be cool) sans booze.

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The private academy where I attended high school didn't do a lot of preaching to us middle to upper-middle class suburban white students.  There were only +/-40 in my class, therefore each K-12 grade had its distinctly averaged behavioral aroma, and as a result, the primary identifiers (students) within my class were definitely on the rebellious side.  Perhaps that's why an "expert" was tasked with coming in and dialoguing with us about alcohol.

I remember her asking us firstly what the most popular recreational drug was across the globe, and I spoke up and answered her with alcohol.  She seemed a little surprised at my response, and whilst looking back, I don't know how or why that particular word came to my mind.

Unless...

there is that one family member who is an alcoholic.  His shenanigans did make an impression on me as a child.

The "alcohol expert" was engaging.  To all of us.  She was confident and obviously smart not to mention physically attractive.  I felt fortunate to be hearing from her relative to being reminded of why I'd chosen not to drink booze.  As a teen, having outside (of parents) positive influence speaks volumes.

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Drinking alcohol is and always has been cool.  Kind of like tattoos are now cool and therefore will always be cool going forward.  It's an identifier of who you are based on the drug type - beer, wine, liquor, cocktails, etc.  Again, like tattoos, highly customize-able.  Therefore, most all adults drink alcohol, but I'm convinced that whilst traveling away from home, they do it much, much more in order to ramp up their cool quotient.

I know this because I've observed it firsthand, but too, I hear friends talk about how booze plays into their travel-time reflexively.

So, what does it mean to be cool?

To be cool is to not be a freak or seemingly freakish.  Cool people radiant that they belong within the crowd instead of on the perimeter of it.  Coolness draws no attention to itself, therefore it's in no way anamolous.  It blankets an individual and therefore imbues confidence.  In fact, it's a confidence that necessitates a desire for always being cool.  Hence, the pursuit of boozing.  Especially whilst experiencing the elevated stressors (new settings, inherent risks, unforeseen delays, dampened expectations, etc.) of travel away from homebase.

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I was in the southwest region of our beautiful country most of last week.  January had been declared a dry month (from booze) for a number of people who were with me whilst away.  One colleague exclaimed her anticipation and excitement of February 1 relative to returning to booze.

And there's the rub.  Boozing starts out exclusively for cool before becoming tasty and delicious on top of cool.  And oftentimes, it leads to intoxication which points back to the beginning of this post and the inherent risks.  This migration is risky in and of itself.

The next time you're traveling (preferentially by air), play a game.  That being, "I Spy".  Within all of the travel mags on the flight and otherwise, take note of the over inclusion of booze, photographed beautifully in order to emancipate the setting(s) from any implied un-coolness.  From there, observe people at eateries, those with and without bars, both in the airport and at your (assumed) vacation destination.  Take note of their beverages of choice.  And finally, watch yourself and how much you too are actually drinking to be drugged.  And remember, if you want to be cool, look to tasty and delicious booze.  Just don't ask yourself how much experience / usability by God you're forgoing whilst pursuing cool.  Personally, I do believe (within certain settings), the answers to those questions will be sobering and then you're back to un-cool.  And this is exactly where the alcohol industry wants you to shy away from.

Not uncool