They say that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
This was not the first or last time a parent tried to “teach” me the effects of drinking.
Then I “school” them. But instead of walking away at the head of the class, I try for extra credit and end up flunking.
The first time was when I was sixteen and went to Germany on a class trip. An evening at the Hofbräuhaus beer hall in Munich was on the itinerary.
My parents had been liberal in the wine department. But for some reason, the idea of me drinking beer sent them over the edge. A couple of months before the trip, they gave me a can of Coors Light. “We want you to know what drinking a full beer feels like.”
Short of it, three later and I was fine. Probably because Coors Light is cat piss.
Regardless, their test or lesson hadn’t worked. In fact, it backfired. Holding my liquor didn’t seem like it would be a problem.
Which it wouldn’t have been… had I eaten something before heading to the famous beer hall.
Unimpressed with the 1990s German dinner cuisine, I didn’t touch any of my fried fish with scales.
Right to the back of the class. And it appeared that years later I still hadn’t learned my lesson.