Two interesting stories

My new hero – just read a news story about a mother who found alcohol in her son’s car. So she did what any mother would do – right? – she sold the car!

Here is the ad from the local paper – “OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom in the world.”

That lady rocks! I have no doubt that Kristie would do something like that if she caught Casey boy in the same spot.


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I also read an interesting article from the Grand Forks Herald. Apparently over in Eden Prairie, some students at the high school there are being suspended after incriminating photos have been posted on Facebook. Evidently, the pictures show some athletes drinking at parties. School officials have visited the site and verified it. Now several athletes are being suspended since drinking violates their MNHS eligibility rules and the school’s honor code.

I am split over this. Part of me is glad that the morons finally got busted. The rule is not to drink during a sports season. If you cannot hold off, then you must live with the consequences.

But part of me wonders about the students. If they didn’t post them – as they claim – then who did? Was it a rival trying to start a smear campaign? I’m not sure how I feel about that.

Of course, all the athletes in the photos claim that they were taken long ago before they were involved in sports. Or that some of the drinks in the pictures cannot be proved to contain alcohol. Or that they simply were at the parties and never drank. All impossible to confirm I suppose.

The former part of me still feels that they got what they deserved for even taking the pictures. But pictures or not – evidence or not – how can such behavior effectively be changed? Or can it even be changed?

The article addresses this with kids stating that they doubt it will have an effect on underage drinking. Kids will just be more discreet. Well, I guess at least one thing has been learned.

One student adopted the “Woe Is Me” attitude and states, “A lot of kids’ lives are going to be ruined as far as scholarships and sports are concerned.” My reaction? Big freakin’ whoop. Losing a scholarship or being unable to play a sport is not the end of someone’s life. Given our current reading of Night, that is clearly evident.

Another student believes “it’s a huge invasion of privacy.” I have no sympathy here. If you own a cell phone – and nearly all now have cameras – and if you have a Facebook or Myspace account, there is no such thing as privacy anymore.