Anyways, it got me thinking about how the time will come to have a "talk" with Marlie about drugs (and alcohol). She is probably going to ask me if I ever used drugs. Then she will learn how incredibly straight-laced her mommy really is. I never experimented with drugs in my adolescences or in college for that matter. I didn't try a single illegal drug until I was 30.
The narcotic was....marijuana...dun, dun, dun! Wait, I know what you are thinking, aren't you Jamaican? Well contrary to popular belief, not all Jamaicans are ganja farmers. Back to the story...
I was 30 and out for drinks with a couple of my girlfriends from work (no, I won't tell you where we worked). The subject of weed came up. I was shocked to learn that one of them smoked on a regular basis to de-stress. The other confessed to being a weed head in college. Then they both looked at me waiting for me to spill the beans about my exploits with dope. They were sorely disappointed when I told them I had zero experience with drugs (except for a father who used and a step-father who sold).
Right then, my two friends vowed to get me my first hit. Peer pressure is a real beast even at 30. One friend was going to buy the stuff and the other was going to host the ritual at her house. I told Damon that I was having a girls' night out, but I was so paranoid that I told him to pick me up after.
The three of us sat at the dining table of my friend's home sharing a bottle of Riesling. Music was playing and the other friend was rolling the blunt. They both demonstrated how to drag and then inhale the smoke.
My turn.
I took a long drag of that marijuana cigarette and tried to inhale. cough. cough. cough. I was told I had to hold the smoke in the back of my throat and swallow. I just kept gagging. My friends threw their hands up in defeat. I think I got a contact high though.
So when it comes time to warn Marlie about the dangers of drugs, I will tell her that her mommy avoided drugs because she saw how they destroyed her grandpa. I will tell her the truth about my first and only attempt at drugs. I hope she laughs at how foolish her mommy was and decides that drugs aren't her thing either.
5 comments:
LOL! The drug conversation is a toughy and did not go as I expected with any of my kids. I don't know if they just assume they know what types of things I did or they aren't curious or what, but not one of them has asked me or DH what we did as kids.
I don't know that anything my parents said or did affected my desire for drugs or alcohol. I personally never liked feeling totally out of control so I don't get sloppy drunk and I've never tried weed.
My father has been a habitual (weed) user since college. It never seemed to affect his life or ours. In fact, I can't say that I've ever seen him acting high.
I will say that it made me think twice about the claims that it isn't addictive. If it isn't why is my 50+ y/o father still smoking?!?
I never once asked my parents what they tried in their past, and at 32, I still do not know.
I'm not sure that you have to share everything you did in your youth to teach your children. I definitely think lessons can be taught and learned without seeing or hearing the ill effects it had on others. Not that my past or my hubs' is worth hiding, but I'm a little old school and I think parents' lives before kids were around is sometimes better left there. :)
Wow...great story. It's good to see that I'm not the only person that is "straight-laced." I'm in my late 20's and I've never smoked a cigarette, never tried drugs, and never drank in college. As you know, I am Jamaican too and I get the ganja questions directed to me way too often (but it doesn't offend me). It's actually pretty fun! I think it's important to discuss these things with your children but I also think that actions speak louder than words--so likely Marlie will emulate her mumma and puppa :)
I hope she wants nothing to do with them either. They are so rampant in the schools now among the youth. If I had a child today, I would not send them to public school.
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