Bettina Juszak

Staff Writer

…or, “Guys, drunk driving really is bad”.

Musings on American culture by a German exchange student.

When thinking about April 1st, 2011, I think no one can deny that the weather was playing an April fools joke on all of New England. Unfortunately, or so I am told, that made the mock accident less fun, or impressive,  than it had been in the past, as no one was particularly keen on doing it in a bank of snow and it was moved inside.

In the PAC quite the detailed scene followed – and quite fatalistic as well. One dead, one injured, one mysteriously vanished, and a drunk driver; not the happiest of casts. It definitely was interesting to see the steps the police officer took to see if the driver was inebriated (I always thought you just had to blow into some pipe and they measure the amount of alcohol in your breath, but apparently that would be too easy).

At this point I do have to say that the cast was really good (I can’t help but admire the person who just lay still as death for the whole time, and the drunken state of the driver was portrayed quite well, too). The projected picture was a bit lame, but I guess you can’t really have a crashing car on stage. Also, the policemen and other helpers might have benefited from a microphone as well.

I found it quite interesting that the school actually does something like this – I have never seen anything like it in German schools. We get the usual speeches about how drunk driving is bad, but a visual? No. That, of course, leaves me wondering if it works better with the visual, or if it is as ineffective in getting through to thick-headed people.

Anyway, the bottom line? Drunk driving is bad – really bad. Drugs aren’t any better. I know, it should be obvious, but apparently for some people it isn’t. Whatever it takes to get that into people’s heads…