CINCO DE DRINKO

It's "cinco de drinko" weekend. I'm not too enthusiastic about taking any long drives and the enforcement teams will be all over the place. A lot of chicanos are going to end up with legal problems, and I sympathize with them.

Why?

Because most of them have a good dose of native american genes in their system, making them desirous of and totally helpless against the curse of the alcohol europeans brought to these shores. Many of european ancestry have a similar problem, but not anywhere near as overwhelming as the problem those of native ancestry face. I know. I'm stepfather to a full blood native american my wife adopted at birth. He's spent most of his life since mid-teens behind bars due to his overwhelming addiction to alcohol. He's there right now.

Another proof, as I see it, that evolution is an actuality. There certainly was no intelligent guidance behind a situation like this.

I'm one of the lucky ones. I can take that chemical or leave it, and usually leave it because there is no overwhelming compulsion in my genetic makeup to lead me to lust after it. A 30-pack of beer will last me around six months and the harder stuff sitting on a shelf in our pantry often sits there for months and years. I've got two-year-old rum waiting for the next eggnog season, but it's the eggnog mix that I really like. I have pretty much a take it or leave it attitude toward the rum part.

So, I have an attitude of pity and compassion toward those who are stuck with a chemical compulsion. It makes for a thorny problem and we're stupid if we think draconian punishments and persecutions are going to solve anything. It only makes for more and worse problems. I liken it to the justifications some people make for torture. It's really a similar attitude.