Spring Break
Beer Bong Mom
William M. Finnin
Issue date: 10/10/07 Section: Opinion
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What was she thinking? Or was she thinking at all? Maybe that's part of her problem, now shared and recorded for a host of others to consider. Certainly nothing resembling critical judgment crossed her "maternal" synapses Saturday afternoon.
Family Weekend festivities on the Boulevard tilted toward full-out weekend before last, not only at the fraternity tents but all across the northern reaches of Boulevard, Plaza and Quadrangle. Though her obvious middle age is no excuse, perhaps subconsciously her elder status contributed to forgetting where she was and with whom. After all, judgment is the first victim of the consumption of too much alcohol.
Or was her lapse simply a momentary slip into an alcohol and party-laced past, a sort of late-life jonesing? Alternatively, could her public display represent a more sinister and troubling regression to a period of her own adolescent excess, a sign of middle-age-manifested developmental arrest? Was it simply the sun or was it the beer? Or both? Or was it just an innocent nostalgic joy at being back on campus for another party?
However one assesses the maturity level of this "grown" woman, possibly the mother of one of our students, on the Boulevard before the UTEP-SMU football game, her behavior clearly was out of line and reflective of seriously deficient judgment. Quaffing alcohol with the aid of a "beer bong" surrounded by underage teens on a public avenue in the middle of our campus simply won't pass as "adult" behavior. At a bare minimum, behavior of this sort signifies gross insensitivity. When exhibited at a moment in our community's life where nearly any untoward activity related to alcohol will be painstakingly scrutinized against the backdrop of recent lethal student excesses with related substances, it transcends embarrassment and constitutes serious insult. She obliterated the boundaries of parental decorum, not to mention generally responsible adult behavior.
When confronted by other adults on the scene, she laughed off her actions apparently as a joke and then moved into the anonymous herd.
Family Weekend festivities on the Boulevard tilted toward full-out weekend before last, not only at the fraternity tents but all across the northern reaches of Boulevard, Plaza and Quadrangle. Though her obvious middle age is no excuse, perhaps subconsciously her elder status contributed to forgetting where she was and with whom. After all, judgment is the first victim of the consumption of too much alcohol.
Or was her lapse simply a momentary slip into an alcohol and party-laced past, a sort of late-life jonesing? Alternatively, could her public display represent a more sinister and troubling regression to a period of her own adolescent excess, a sign of middle-age-manifested developmental arrest? Was it simply the sun or was it the beer? Or both? Or was it just an innocent nostalgic joy at being back on campus for another party?
However one assesses the maturity level of this "grown" woman, possibly the mother of one of our students, on the Boulevard before the UTEP-SMU football game, her behavior clearly was out of line and reflective of seriously deficient judgment. Quaffing alcohol with the aid of a "beer bong" surrounded by underage teens on a public avenue in the middle of our campus simply won't pass as "adult" behavior. At a bare minimum, behavior of this sort signifies gross insensitivity. When exhibited at a moment in our community's life where nearly any untoward activity related to alcohol will be painstakingly scrutinized against the backdrop of recent lethal student excesses with related substances, it transcends embarrassment and constitutes serious insult. She obliterated the boundaries of parental decorum, not to mention generally responsible adult behavior.
When confronted by other adults on the scene, she laughed off her actions apparently as a joke and then moved into the anonymous herd.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
rob
posted 10/10/07 @ 5:20 PM CST
Honestly if you have nothing better to do with your time than to critique tailgating behavior then I think the University should increase your work duties. (Continued…)
diogenes
William Finnin
posted 10/11/07 @ 10:20 AM CST
I appreciate your reading the brief essay. Participating in the conversation surrounding the alcohol/cocaine/other substances deaths of three of our students most recently IS part of my responsibility as chaplain and minister to our campus. (Continued…)
connye guy
posted 10/11/07 @ 5:41 PM CST
to those it concerns (which should be EVERY responsible adult!):
i am a active member of the smu mom's club and in no way does the mom's club believe this was responsible behavior of a parent or adult anywhere at anytime. (Continued…)
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