Reacting to the current craze for binge drinking, a team of researchers suggest that parents should allow their children to drink alcohol at home. Thus lessening their keenness to obtain it elsewhere.
The responses to this idea will be mixed. But I am reminded of something that happened to me a long time ago in a country far away.
The country was Malta.
The Grand Harbour at Valleta in fact.
A certain local Superintendent of Police at the time was in the habit of befriending crew members of British vessels and during his off-duty hours, taking them on a tour of Valleta’s night spots.
None of us knew why he did this. Perhaps we provided cover for a discreet overview of his patch.
No matter. He certainly showed us some aspects of Maltese night life we could never have discovered for ourselves.
But on one particular night we, found the bars and clubs strangely lifeless. Presumably the crews of the few ships in port where either on watch or recovering from hangovers.
In any case there was nothing doing.
So the Superintendant took us back to his house and produced whiskey. But no sooner were we settled comfortably than a patter of tiny feet heralded the arrival of his six children, age range from sixteen year old daughter to cute toddler. All in their night clothes and obviously having been awakened by our arrival.
What happened next astonished all of us seasoned salts of the sea.
Each child was presented with his and her own tot of whiskey, told to drink it straight down and then go back to bed.
Which they did.
The tots ranged from the smallest – which matched my own, rather too much for comfort portion – to a good boozers glug, which the sixteen year old maiden tossed back without a hint of watering eyes or choking. With no more reaction from any of them in fact than if they had been swallowing orange juice.
The Superintendent returned out stares with the slightest of smiles.
“Of one thing I can be certain,” he said. “None of my children will ever come to harm or do anything wrong as the result of drunkenness.”
I make no comment on the above. Reach your own conclusions.
Image: tienvijftien
under CC BY-SA 2.0
