Family reunion
 

Well, I'll be gone until like Monday, off on a family reunion in Maryland. Bye-bye spiffy new avatar. :p

See you all later.

It wouldn't be going bye-bye if my idea for changes to it were implimented.

Don't worry, you'll get it back after 28 days. :p

Have fun!

14 days, Lenny. 14 days.

Same difference...

Does one not keep it 28 days after the 14 are up, though?

Where's my big avatar? :(

You'd have to ask WW.

Well, got back, it wasn't anything largely exciting. Old people as far as the eye could see. ;)

Sounds like my church!

Oddly enough, the big dinner was held in a local church. I had to watch my cellphone carefully to make sure its 'Play' button didn't get held down and start playing Celtic Frost or something.

Where in Maryland?

If you would've let me know I would've taken you to a bar or something.

Just a mile or two outside of Denton.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Denton...i=map&ct=title

Just shy of Delaware, interesting. Didn't know that was where I was...

I love family reunions especially when you get toasted

I didn't, but my little brother did. He passed out after like 6 shots of Skyy.

I'm looking forward to being able to legally drink at family reunions. I've never been drunk around a family member besides my sister.

There's talks of lowering the legal drinking age to 18, and it's actually getting some traction.

Did you know, you only have to be 21 to drink in like half the states? In some states, if you have a parent or guardian present, you can drink below the age of 21. In some states, if you're married and your spouse is present, you can drink below the age of 21. And in a few states(California is one, if I remember right), you can drink below the age of 21.

Yeah I saw that article on MSN yesterday.

Isn't Louisiana the only state that currently has a drinking age of 18?

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20249460/

For Maryland, it says Under 21 may consume alcohol. What does that really mean?

I'm not really sure. I don't know if that means that ANYONE under 21 can consume alcohol, like a 15 year old, or if that means people over 18 but under 21 can still consume alcohol.

Either way, that article makes some good points about alcohol control not doing shit.

I like how you'd have to have a drinking license (almost like a driver's license). My parents let me drink, simply because of 'It was 18 when I was your age'.

Nothing too wrong with lowering the drinking age, I still believe the parents are the ones who should be in charge of their children in this manner.

It's the same thing with 'drug control' we have morons liek HoH that can go anywhere and buy an ounce if he wanted.

And I agree with you Volls, for the most part I've been allowed to drink, and I'm guessing my parents did that to take the damn fun out of it... because I've never really had the urge like most kids my age growing up...

Make fun of me one more time for smoking pot and I'll flame your ass so hard you won't know what hit you. Fuck the fuck off. It's drugs, get over it! Alcohol is more lethal anyways.

It's obvious in many European locales as well, where they've grown up with alcohol being around. I don't have the numbers on me, but they typically suffer less from alcohol related injuries than the US does.

It's a large sign of independence and "maturity" in America (since you can only do it at an age where you are typically independent). If you take away what makes it special here, it becomes less of a deal after a generation or two.

The French and Italians definitely let kids drink at an early age - maybe small glasses of wine. And it wouldn't surprise me if the Germans let their kids drink smalls glasses of beer or similar. Same for the Irish and Scottish. And we Brits? 14 y/o in the pub, downing pints. Proper like! And then we grow up into holiday-makers who go abroad, get absolutely rat-arsed, and annoy the locals. :D

Sounds like the life. I've been able to have wine with supper since I was 16 and when my parents had it. Now I get beer or white russians.

Right, but statistically, Europeans tend to be safer than Americans after being intoxicated.

I largely think it's one of those, "OH, I CAN DO THIS NOW" kind of things over here.

Makes sense, I suppose. 18 just isn't as much a big deal as 21 is. Plus, with the drinking age being 18 (lower in some European countries, I think) people then get three years practice at University before they are let loose on the world.

My parents let me start drinking when i was 18 because "if i can vote and go to war, i can def get drunk."

Yeah, I find it amusing that the government will train people to kill as young as 16, but you gotta wait 5 years to have a beer.

Sounds a bit off.

Let's petition to lower the drinking age to 18 again! w00t w00t

Eh, I don't really care. I'm gonna drink before I hit 21 either way.

Word.

Been like that since I was 16.

Same here. There's a lot of things I couldn't do in front of family that I did with your sister.

Does anyone know if the gov't allows people 18-20 years old to drink beer in the army when they are in Iraq?

You can drink beer at 17 if you're enlisted, as far as I know. I think being a soldier makes you qualify as 21 ;).