What Is This "Accountability" Of Which You Speak?

Some will find this heartless, but I have to speak my mind.  Click here to read the article.  It's intended to tug our heartstrings and make us feel wistful and sad, called to action.  It just pissed me off.

Jeff Wielichowski, 22, drowned in the Greenfield family's swimming pool on July 15 after drinking a punch made of 190-proof Everclear grain alcohol, Red Bull and Gatorade.

Luanne Wielichowski believes her only son had no idea how potent this concoction was, and she has channeled her grief into a crusade to ban the sale of Everclear and other high-proof booze in Wisconsin, as some other states have done.

Let me lay out the broad strokes.  22-year-old man drinks grain alcohol, Red Bull and Gatorade.  Parents see this, and dad tells him to throw it away.  He speaks to his parents, and they see he is very intoxicated.  Young man continues to drink with friends fully knowing what he is drinking.  He jumps into the pool. At some point he drowns.  His friends pull him unconscious from the water and stretch him out, but don't notify the parents.  Father comes outside and finds dead son.


Yet according to the mother, it's the Everclear that is to blame.  It tricked her own son while everybody watched and did nothing.  Friends tell friends when to say when, they don't leave an unconscious person to die while the party goes on.  Parents who see their son (and others) drinking to the point of oblivion have an obligation towards managing the situation as well.  And an unfortunate fact of life is that when people do incredibly stupid things they pay for, or occasionally die for their poor judgment.  The loss of life is awful but it should be a lesson in common sense, not an excuse to restrict everyone's access to a product because there is always someone who will take it too far.  If Everclear wasn't for sale, would Jeff Wielichowsky be alive?  Probably not.  His mother would be suing Jack Daniels or another distributor.  Someone who drinks in that manner was trying to get as intoxicated as possible, period.  He knew how potent the mix was, he was counting on it.  Unfortunately for him, something went very wrong.


But it's the Everclear, of course.  Not somewhat negligent parents, idiot friends or one young man's decision to get smashed coming together for a perfect storm of bad results.  I've had Everclear, and it's the closest thing to moonshine that you can buy legally.  But it is legal, and overreacting to the poor decision of one person is no reason to remove a choice for thousands who manage to enjoy it responsibly.  This wasn't a case of misinformation, the article plainly states that it is a widely known fact that Everclear is super-intoxicating.  This is a case of knowing the facts and making the wrong choice anyway, and that is regrettable and preventable.


In the words of my father, who would have turned 66 this week: "Don't do stupid shit.  I can't promise you will grow old if you don't, but your chances are way better.  Use your brain or don't complain if it costs you everything you have."  Words that might have saved Jeff Wielichowsky, if someone had thought to say them before it was too late.  That would have gone much further than restricting his choices at the liquor store.