Today I got my first-ever legitimate "Why don't you drink?" question.
I'm realizing how much of a bubble I grew up in because I hardly knew how to answer.
My initial thought was "I don't know."
Can you believe me? I'm embarrassed. But don't worry, I did come up with a better response.
"I'm allergic."
Just kidding.
My new intern friends and I were at a baseball game this afternoon--Nationals vs. Phillies. We all know I'm not a sports fan, but I must admit I enjoyed the atmosphere.The alcohol aspect was especially intriguing.
Most of the interns I work with are in the 20-22 range, but for some reason I feel older than them. I kind of feel like their mom because I've been here for four whole weeks longer than they have. So when one of the kids, Lance, reached out to the hawker to exchange a wad of cash for a can of beer, all I could think was, "That guy better card him."
And then when the hawker did card him and gave Lance the beer anyway, I thought, "What is he doing selling beer to a kid!? Can't he see that he's just a kid! He's not old enough to be drinking!"
But the thing is, Lance is old enough to be drinking. He's 21. It's legal.
And then everyone else starting downing ice cold Coors and Summer Shandy and I just couldn't wrap my head around it. I wanted to take it away from them and dump it out and tell their moms. I mean, I've been around young people drinking before, but it has always been clouded in the context of wrong-doing. These intern friends of mine were just having a good time with their beer and their sports gear at an afternoon baseball game--LEGALLY (well, most of them)--and nobody but me was giving it a second thought.
Even more interestingly, I realized that I could have bought a beer too and no one would have batted an eyelash. I was almost tempted. Almost. I've never really had to prove my testimony of the Word of Wisdom before because I grew up in Mormonville, but I'm realizing this is one area of the gospel that I need a more solid understanding of.
Anyway, before I sign off, let me share three things that made me smile today:
1. The man on the way to the metro station. He's probably about 50. He has dreadlocks and wears a police cap, a flowy white tunic, camo shorts, red socks, and tennis shoes. He's got two carts full of all sorts of strange junk. Normally he sits on the corner and tries to sell his stuff, but today I was late to work and I passed him as he was pushing and pulling his carts across the crosswalk. Not in a sad, homeless way, but in a very purposeful, business-like sort of way. It was hilarious. I couldn't help but chuckle at him and his ridiculous police hat and tennis shoes. Is that mean?
2. Today at the baseball game, one of the staffers at work, Dan, let me read his newspaper (I was obviously enthralled with what was happening on the field). I kept asking him if I could rip out certain pages, so eventually he just said, "Here, you keep the paper and I'll just grab another one on the way home." I held it up and responded, "But if I take this I don't want you to secretly resent me for it." To which he pragmatically replied, "I wouldn't secretly resent you. I would resent you out loud."
3. As I was riding the metro home from the game, my train was stopped and another train rolled in from the opposite direction. Through the window I glimpsed a gangster black man sitting at the edge of his seat holding a naked life-size female mannequin. It was the strangest thing. That's DC for you.
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