Last weekend I went to my favorite neighborhood hibachi restaurant. In hibachi style restaurants, random patrons are typically squeezed into tight seating conditions centered around a cook-top table. While sitting with strangers isn’t a problem for me, I’m wholly aware that it’s a toss up in terms of choice of dinner companions. This week, to my left, three women of legal drinking age out on the town celebrating mom’s night out. On my right, three women who were clearly underage and taking advantage of the fact that this establishment wasn’t carding.
My first clue of their underage status, besides their very youthful appearance, was that as they downed their Sake, they snapped pictures of themselves with their cell phones. It’s been my experience, having bartended myself for seven years, that people of legal drinking age don’t have to prove that they are drinking with photo evidence.
I turned to the moms on my right and asked, “Did you see those girls get carded?” They replied that they had their eye on them and noticed that they were not carded. This information fueled my agitation. I thought to myself, how many people have watched these girls carry on and, in effect, have ultimately failed them — from their parents before they left their house, to the restaurant, to the bartender in the bar, to the server at the table, to the “moms” sitting on my right. You know how you feel when you’re watching something and a voice inside your head says “this is wrong. Someone needs to say/do something”.
What I said to those girls at that moment may not have been profound or the perfect thing to say to “reach them” but I could tell it landed on them. It wasn’t an easy thing for me to do. I was with company who I knew wouldn’t appreciate me getting into someone else’s personal business. From my point of view, however, in addition to it being quite literally my business, I also couldn’t imagine getting on the road knowing that these girls were behind the wheel somewhere. I imagine it gets easier each time you step out on the ledge and protect what’s important. Let me know what you might have done in this same situation.
In Lexington, SC recently tragic deaths occurred of three high school seniors in two separate accidents on the same night who were drinking and driving. James Young and Donald Schwartz were leaving a party when Schwartz ran off the road and struck a tree. Both Young and Schwartz died. Only 30 minutes earlier, another 17 year old, Kyle Paradise was driving under the influence when he hit a road sign and flipped his automobile, immediately killing his passenger and best friend Brent Nachel.
This small town in rural South Carolina is not unlike many small towns where underage drinking is a persistent plague in the community. Having grown up in a small town myself, I can attest to the rather boring life that surrounded kids and without education and constant reminding, coming from coaches, parents, teachers, and other good young adult role models, peer pressure to drink can be challenging.
Faced with these calamities in his district, Senator Jakey Knotts, a veteran Senator from the midlands of South Carolina turned to DIAGEO and worked passionately and earnestly with us and The Century Council to bring a program to this beleaguered community to remind kids of the dangers associated with illegal underage consumption of alcohol. The program, Brandon Tells His Story, is of Brandon Silveria, a young high school student with a very bright future both academically and athletically. Brandon’s story is tragic and moving. When only 17 years old, Brandon was involved in a near fatal car crash after drinking at a high school party with friends. He was subsequently in a coma for 3 months and even years later he still faces daily dilemmas with permanent and visible speech and walking disabilities. Despite these disabilities, Brandon and his Father Tony travel across the country talking to teenagers about the dangers of drinking and driving. His emotional story both educates and encourages responsible decisions by teens and has made a huge impact across high school auditoriums nationwide.
Partnerships with the industry, community leaders, parents and teachers’ organizations are all critical –frankly imperative, to educate and remind our youth on the potentially lethal outcomes of illegal underage drinking and drunk driving. The more we as a company and community can do to continue to educate our kids about these dangers, the better off we all are at protecting our future generations. I’m proud to work for a company that cares so much about the communities in which we live and work and demonstrates that commitment to responsibility every day across the country.
