I once worked in a factory with a guy named Jake. He was a great guy who gave great pep talks. He himself had come out of a coma, and though he walked with a horrible limp, he was one of the hardest workers. One day, I had a meltdown on the job because every single person who walked past me had to train me, and nobody liked the way anybody else was training me. If I spent all my time looking over my shoulder to see who was coming so I could be doing things the “right” way, I would get nothing done. Jake’s simple advice was, paraphrasing, “Everybody else has their way of doing things, so come up with yours.”
Set off by another anti-drug program featured in the Tryon Daily Bulletin, I have come up with my own way to fight drug abuse. I think people turn to drugs to escape boredom or stress; and a great way to alleviate both is to get busy on a meaningful project. So, the next time “a friend of yours” wants to turn to Mother’s Little Helper, why don’t you put your mind and hands to work for a worthy cause, like winnowing away at the size of government. Don’t wait for anybody to organize you. You – er, your friend – might start by figuring out how to get rid of simplistic programs that create ersatz feel-good for bureaucrats, like anti-drug rah-rah. Becoming dependent on government for rehab is, after all, what they refer to in the biz as habit transference.
