Small Town Politics

I have a soapbox today! As you know, we live in a very small community here in Montana and like any other small community across the country, everyone knows every one's business and if they don't the small town newspaper tells you.

It is the custom of our local newspaper to publish a column titled the "Sheriff Report" which lists all the arrests made the previous weeks. Many times I am upset to see a name followed by MIP, meaning minor in possession of alcohol. The weekend following graduation, two recent high school graduates received MIP's. The names of these two young ladies were not published in our local newspaper. It is my hope that our local newspaper rather than bowing to pressure from these parents has decided to stop publishing the names of the young people caught with alcohol.

Because we are a small town, it is difficult for a young person under the age of 21 to buy alcohol because everyone knows everyone. So, that means some adult is providing it for these young people. Michael and I both have very dear long time friends that have lost a child each to drunk driving when they were under the age of 21. Buying alcohol for underage children is against the law and heartbreakingly dangerous. I am all for teaching teenagers to drink responsibly but buying alcohol for underage young people is not the road to go down!

That's my Friday soapbox!