The devil is real, unfortunately

Now before I get started on the main part of this post, I will say that last night's game against Tulane was excellent. It was probably the most entertaining game I've seen the Tigers play so far this season. We beat Tulane by 14 points, which was much better than last year's 1 point win. I am looking forward to Saturday night's game against Houston at the Pyramid. We'll be there, dressed in blue. I think we're gonna go to Huey's downtown before the game, which will be great as it always is. I still say it's the best Huey's location.

Have you ever caught yourself doing something, and right in the middle, you actually feel like good and evil are battling it out, both perched on each of your shoulders? You know the scene...you've seen it in cartoons and sitcoms. It's a miniature devil in a red suit, complete with horns, pointed tail and pitch fork, laughing into the character's ear, "Sure, go ahead, do it." And then there's the "good" one, dressed in white, with wings and a halo, trying to talk the character's self-conscience out of whatever he/she is wanting to do. Believe it or not, this is actually quite real. It's called spiritual warefare. The devil really does come at us at all angles. The bad thing is, the more you give into what Satin wants you to do, the harder it becomes to resist. And what is even WORSE is that the devil is so super smart, he can make things appear so innocent. I mean, sure there are some obvious traps he can lead you into, but what I'm talking about are little tiny things that don't seem like a big deal. But these little tiny, seemingly innocent things can and will turn into big things if you allow him to take hold. Just as an example, say you are 22 years old. You've never had a drop of alcohol in your life. You chose this because for one, you've just never had any interest in trying it, much less getting drunk or doing something stupid. Well, that's pretty rare for a 22-year-old, although I know a few people a little older than 22 who've never drank OR smoked anything in their life, including myself. But anyway, let's say you are that 22 year-old who never has drank, and a friend whom aren't THAT close to, but have known for awhile, invites you to somewhere like Applebee's for dinner. Well you get there, and it's pretty packed, and the hostess asks the both of you if you'd like to sit at the bar. So you give it a thought, and at first, the thought of it makes you kind of uncomfortable, but then you're like, "Sure, why not? I'm not sitting there to drink...I'm just sitting there to eat dinner, and I don't want to have to wait for a table." So there you are at the bar, waiting on your food. Everyone around you is drinking, and even your "friend" just ordered a beer. Suddenly you feel out of place, but you can't help but almost wonder what the big deal is about, and you are almost tempted to order something yourself. But you don't. So you eat, you leave, no big deal. But in the back of your mind, you hope no one saw you sitting at the bar. A week or so later, you go out to eat somewhere else that has a bar, and you don't even give it a thought before sitting at the bar to avoid a wait. Then the next time you ASK for the bar to avoid a wait for a table. Then the next time you sit at the bar, and look over the drink menu and order something harmless-looking like a strawberry daquiri. Then the next time and then next and the next you try different drinks, and before you know it, you are buying a 6-pack of beer at the grocery store...first only to have on hand for when friends come over for special occassions, but then start keeping your fridge stocked with the stuff so you can pop one open any time you feel like it. And then you find yourself drinking it with almost every meal, going through a 6-pack a night in front of the TV, and drinking whatever you can get every time you go out to eat, every time you go to a party, to a friend's house, on holidays, sporting events...you'll use almost any event as an excuse to drink. So you went from never having touched it in your life to you're now a full-blown social drinker/borderline alchoholic.

I probably have a few friends that read this that drink on a regular basis, and I'd say "that's fine" but I can't say "that's fine". I don't see the point of drinking at all. I worked with someone who wouldn't come to something another co-worker had at her house BECAUSE she knew she couldn't drink at her house!! I didn't even have an invitation for my baby shower with Jacob sent to this same woman because I knew she wouldn't come if she couldn't drink. Isn't that pathetic? Everyone at my old job, short of two other people, drank like fish, and they knew I didn't drink, and they made a point of leaving me out of certain office gatherings for that very reason, I'm sure. I think the office manager even despised me because I wasn't one of her "drinking buddies". I've been to office parties and watched co-workers drink themselves stupid (literally...and then drive themselves home afterwards). If they knew how stupid they were acting, I wonder if they would still consume alchohol. Not only that, but it's expensive to have a drinking habit. I mean, heck, if we'd served alcohol at our wedding reception it would have doubled, if not tripled, our wedding expenses, no joke! I don't know about you, but every time me and Michael go out to eat at somewhere like Chili's, we spend around $30 for the 2 of us. If we drank, we could add at the very LEAST $10 to the check. Oh and what REALLY is sad is to watch adults drinking in front of their kids...LITTLE kids. These kids are brought up to believe it's okay, that it's part of life. My parents never, ever drank, and I can remember going to a friend's house one time, when I was in elementary school, and I opened up their refrigerator door and saw beer in there, and I can remember feeling so shocked!!! And then of course when I went home, I told my mom about it, and she never let me go to that friend's house again. The very first word that comes to mind when I see someone with a beer in their hand is IRRESPONSIBILITY. Some may argue that there's nothing wrong with having a good time by having a beer with some friends, but you know what? I have learned you can have a great time with friends without the beer. I've been to a bazillion sporting events where everyone around me was drinking, but I can honestly say I had a royal blast and never drank anything other than a Coke at a ball game.

Okay, I kind of wandered away from my point slightly, but another example would be the casinos. If you've ever gone down there just for dinner or just for a concert, you are putting yourself within shooting range of the devil. Especially if you're going for a concert, because you have to walk right past the slot machines to get to where the concerts are. How tempting would it be just to stick a quarter in and see what happens? And then keep doing it over and over and over? And the casinos have this all strategically planned out this way, too. They WANT this to happen.

ANYWAY, please no hate-shout-outs for my bashing alchohol consumers. I hope you have a good liver and someone to drive you home.