What About You?

So I was considering the statistics about the amount of kids who drive with someone who has been drinking alcohol, and then I had a mini-realization. This is so obvious, I feel pretty stupid that I didn’t realize it before. If underage drinking was more accepted by society and less punished and frowned upon by the law and parents, kids would be three hundred times more likely to call their parents for a ride home. Duh! Silly 18equalsadult, why didn’t you realize this before??

Think about it: You are at a party, drunk. Not 21 (you little rebel!). There is a cop car outside but your friend Billy Bob is in the corner with keys and a truck out back (this is intended to sound far less sketch than it does). Although Billy Bob has had a couple beers, he’s a big guy. He can handle it. So what do you do? Walk (or shuffle) up to the cop and politely ask them for a safe ride home, or take your chances with Billy Bob and avoid getting that drinking ticket that looks oh-so-bad on your record? Sober you thinks: “Duh! Safe ride!” Drunk you: “Billy Bob’s got my back. Hell yeah for getting away with this!”

My hypothesis for this is that if there weren’t such negative repercussions for drinking, we would be far more likely to call our parents or find a safe way home. Since I was young my mom always told me no matter how drunk or young I was to always call her, in every situation. Do you think this is a realistic option? Do you think kids would actually take advantage of the safer options if it meant no tickets or the inevitable next day “why did you do that last night??” arguments with your parents? What about you, would you do it?