Our Easter weekend jaunt to Manhattan was wonderful. It felt great to get back to New York and enjoy the auto show, the largest on the east coast. And the following week we traveled to California to my favorite spot on Earth—Santa Monica. It really makes me happy when we arrive and sad when we leave. Someday we’ll go there and not come back. Yes, it’s that nice.

So, David and I went west, Steve and Murray went east, to London. I hope their stay was as nice as ours. OK, he’s rambling on and on, what’s the topic of today’s column? I’ll get to that, but first a question.

What’s the number one drug problem here in the good ol’ U.S.A.? Is the first thing that comes to mind cocaine, marijuana, heroin, or ecstasy? Well, it’s none of those. These drugs are making the big headlines in newspapers and magazines. Yes, they can be a major problem for some, but the most abused drug in this country is alcohol. Right.

Everybody drinks, don’t they? It’s very accepted, and a very social part of our daily lives. I saw a TV show in LA that dealt with twin sisters flying to China from San Francisco with a plane full of passengers. It seemed both young ladies had too much to drink and became quite unruly with the flight crew, to the point that fighting broke out while flying over the Pacific ocean. The pilot had to inform the passengers that he was re-routing to Anchorage to land the plane for their safety. The two girls were promptly arrested and face 20 years in prison. The same week, one of the band members of the rock group R.E.M. got into trouble the same way while on a flight. Alcohol was to blame for his behavior. His lawyer publicly apologized for him to the press—wow, that took guts. These people were served alcohol on their flights and these were the results.

In the past year, 144 instances of this behavior have resulted on flights, and 98% of those were disruptions due to alcohol. This made me really nervous because Dave and I had to take a flight back to BWI the next day. Talk about feeling uneasy! Have we become so complacent with our use of alcohol that it’s "to be expected" when something like this happens? I sure hope not.

Many people seem to tolerate heavy drinking. I, for one, do not. I grew up in a family where my father abused alcohol and with it, his family. Now think—do any of you have someone in your family who drinks too much? Many families do. Yet we see our government spending billions of dollars overseas to stop the flow of illegal drugs into our country. Hey Mr. President, why not spend that money here to get people off that legal drug, alcohol? That’s right, the President used to abuse alcohol himself.

I know what alcohol does to a family. And I also know that the number one call in to county police is for domestic disturbance, and 90% of these are attributed to alcohol abuse by one or both persons involved. I know that a third of all traffic accidents in Sussex county are the result of drunk driving. The people at M.A.D.D. should be mad, because drinking is still more popular than ever. Of the accidents that occur after midnight in Sussex county, nearly half involve alcohol. Scary, huh? Are you angry yet?

What is this thing about drunks being fun? Where did that come from—Dean Martin? Foster Brooks? These people were actors. People who get drunk are not funny. In fact, most get aggressive and abusive. I know, I lived through it. I really don’t have to tell many of you this. There’s someone in your family who "drinks too much."

I find it ironic that politicians will vote "no" on marijuana for medicinal purposes and then go out and celebrate with a round of drinks. And many a politician and well known celebrities are or were heavy drinkers. My mom left my dad because of his abuse brought on by alcohol. It finally sank in that she wouldn’t come home (3 weeks gone) until he stopped drinking, and she meant it. He promised, they got back together, and he never touched it again. But by then he was in his late 50s. It went on too long before that.

One member of my club met someone over the Internet. She asked her what her favorite food was, And the answer? "Champagne." There’s a staple you can’t live without!

OK, I’m still venting. You should know that too much alcohol could lead to liver failure. Ever hear of cirrhosis? That’s a big cause of most liver transplants. A liver transplant is very expensive and you’re put on a waiting list in hopes of receiving one before you expire from the disease. You can also suffer alcohol poisoning. You’ve heard of the college kids who die from that. They drink so much alcohol that it actually poisons their system. Now, you probably think that I’m 100% anti drinking. No. I’m not. Having a glass of wine or a beer or two (the limit) is OK. But once you finish the bottle and drink a 12-pack or case of beer yourself, then I have a problem with that.

A footnote: I still have people asking me about D.J., the gym cat and mascot we adopted from the back alley. We took him home a while ago because members complained about their allergies. He would only sit in the chair in the front window and not move from there all day. While we were away, we got a call that D.J. died from injuries suffered in a fight outside with another animal. We were heartbroken. He’ll be sorely missed!