Are We Still Mad Men?

By Laura Sucheski | February 16, 2010 at 6:05 pm | Opinion | 15 comments | |

 

I’ve been watching a ton of Mad Men lately.  If you don’t watch it, the show is about the 1960s office and home life of a Madison Avenue advertising executive with a mysterious past. If you were to take a shot every time one of the characters does something horribly dangerous and now socially unacceptable (examples: smoking while pregnant, drinking while pregnant, drinking at work, sexually harassing secretaries/clients/friend’s wives) you would be pass-out drunk by the first commercial break. It’s great we’re enlightened, right?

The sad truth is that things have not changed much when it comes to drunk driving.

Exhibit A: a real conversation I had with some 5Cers:

Me: DC is great because the public transportation system pretty much eliminates the need to drive from bars to home.
Other 5Cer: Oh, hahah, I drive better when drunk anyway.
Yet another 5Cer: Hahahahahah!  (not horrified).

Only mad men drink and drive, right?

This is absolutely heartbreaking.   Through alcohol education and increased legal consequences, we’ve changed most of the offensive Mad Men-esqe behavior.    Everyone reading this article knows the legal limit.   That leaves only social attitudes relatively unchanged since 1960.

The problem with drunk driving is that it’s hit or miss, no horrible pun intended. If you drink while pregnant, it will affect your child.   If you make sexually inappropriate comments to your secretary, it will affect your career.  But usually, drunk driving doesn’t have immediate consequences.  Most of the time people drive drunk, they don’t get in an accident or pulled over.  Importantly, the drunk driver saves herself the awkward prospect of either sleeping in her car or arranging alternative transportation.  Sadly, for most people, it takes a powerful emotional experience to realize that drunk driving is always a bad idea.

California produces conditions especially conducive to drunk driving accidents.   We have no public transportation, lots of suburban sprawl, and few sidewalks.    People love to exercise outdoors, so the roads are shared by drivers, cyclists, and runners.   In my hometown, drunk driving deaths were horrifyingly common.   A best friend’s mother, an Ironwoman champion and elementary school teacher, was struck on her bicycle as she trained in the afternoon after school got out.  She died four days later, leaving three young daughters, her husband, and our small town devastated.  A high school classmate is in Folsom Prison[*] for killing two former classmates and injuring two others on the Fourth of July.   All had just finished their first year of college at different UCs.

I thank God that Claremont’s drinking culture is always within walking distance.  I definitely don’t have enough confidence in my peers at the 5Cs not to risk their own lives and others on the road.  What do you think?

[*] Yeah, like the Johnny Cash song.

More posts by Laura Sucheski »
Laura Sucheski

Laura Sucheski is the Forum's Managing Editor of News and Opinion, and a senior Government major who enjoys philosophy and California politics. She grew up near Sacramento in a town famous only for its local population of feral chickens.

 
 
 
 
  • Matt F

    I like the article and your analysis but in my time here I’ve seen plenty of students driving drunk from CMC over to Pitzer or Mudd and other nearby places. It is a reality, even on campus. As someone who had two friends from home die from drunk driving accidents my freshman year, weeks apart from each other (technically one was alcohol, the other was some stimulant) I am mortified to see people acting this way but it is a real problem even on our campus. One particular incident happened about two years ago which was a real mindopener for me, though I’m not sure if it qualifies as drunk driving. Some drunk and immature CMC jocks (they were freshmen or sophomores at the time) stole a Scripps milk truck and drove it into the Northquad parking barriers, wrecking the truck and a barrier. But what really mortified me was that there were at least 20 people at the scene and nobody did anything. Everyone just stood around laughing and acting like it was no big deal. The jocks were still in the truck joking and bragging about what they just did. I was at least 5 minutes late to the scene and called CampSec (left the names out as I’m not a snitch) but how does something like that happen without other CMCers intervening? I can’t tell you how much respect I lost for certain members of our community that day.

    But as you point out, the consequences of drunk driving don’t really permeate our psyche here so people feel insulated to it. I hope other people don’t have to go through the loss of two friends to see what the consequences truly are.

  • Matt F

    I like the article and your analysis but in my time here I’ve seen plenty of students driving drunk from CMC over to Pitzer or Mudd and other nearby places. It is a reality, even on campus. As someone who had two friends from home die from drunk driving accidents my freshman year, weeks apart from each other (technically one was alcohol, the other was some stimulant) I am mortified to see people acting this way but it is a real problem even on our campus. One particular incident happened about two years ago which was a real mindopener for me, though I’m not sure if it qualifies as drunk driving. Some drunk and immature CMC jocks (they were freshmen or sophomores at the time) stole a Scripps milk truck and drove it into the Northquad parking barriers, wrecking the truck and a barrier. But what really mortified me was that there were at least 20 people at the scene and nobody did anything. Everyone just stood around laughing and acting like it was no big deal. The jocks were still in the truck joking and bragging about what they just did. I was at least 5 minutes late to the scene and called CampSec (left the names out as I’m not a snitch) but how does something like that happen without other CMCers intervening? I can’t tell you how much respect I lost for certain members of our community that day.

    But as you point out, the consequences of drunk driving don’t really permeate our psyche here so people feel insulated to it. I hope other people don’t have to go through the loss of two friends to see what the consequences truly are.

  • CMCer

    I like how this hasn’t drawn too many comments(sarcasm). What, so many CMS’ers too afraid or ashamed to speak their minds about this?

    • fraidy cat

      what exactly would you like such a discussion to entail re: drunk driving?

      you’ll either get everyone saying “OMG, drunk driving is bad”–obviously a reasonable and correct response– or you’ll get random trolls saying, “real north quad chiefs drive crossfaded.” I think that the post is dead on–there is a significant problem of people saying “I can handle it.” but what other discussion is there to be had, other than the ones above?

      good luck having to have a serious conversation on the internet. if only anonymity bred reasonable honesty. hopefully those that read the article will think twice before driving drunk in the future.

  • CMCer

    I like how this hasn’t drawn too many comments(sarcasm). What, so many CMS’ers too afraid or ashamed to speak their minds about this?

    • fraidy cat

      what exactly would you like such a discussion to entail re: drunk driving?

      you’ll either get everyone saying “OMG, drunk driving is bad”–obviously a reasonable and correct response– or you’ll get random trolls saying, “real north quad chiefs drive crossfaded.” I think that the post is dead on–there is a significant problem of people saying “I can handle it.” but what other discussion is there to be had, other than the ones above?

      good luck having to have a serious conversation on the internet. if only anonymity bred reasonable honesty. hopefully those that read the article will think twice before driving drunk in the future.

  • Dan Evans

    CMC’s alcohol policy is actually pretty safe compared to other places. Schools that don’t allow any alcohol in the dorms are encouraging students to drink off campus, making the likelihood of drinking and driving higher.

  • Dan Evans

    CMC’s alcohol policy is actually pretty safe compared to other places. Schools that don’t allow any alcohol in the dorms are encouraging students to drink off campus, making the likelihood of drinking and driving higher.

  • Keith McCammon

    Hey Matt F,

    I see a contradiction in your paired outrage that CMCers aren’t intervening and your personal non-intervention (not telling the authorities) because you don’t want to be a snitch.

    A snitch? This isn’t fourth grade, people are dying. Man up – you’re part of the problem.

    Keith McCammon

    • Matt F

      Fair point. Though I’d argue that I did intervene (made sure they were safe, made sure they would not be doing any more damage in that vehicle, and made sure the authorities were located) and I don’t believe turning intoxicated students into the authorities is necessarily a way to stop future behavior. They either get a lecture or get reprimanded, but the heinous nature of their crime “joke” doesn’t get imprinted. Instead, some authority figure is preaching about something stupid they did while drunk, and the students write it off as a drunk accident and don’t address the root problem.

      Instead, once sober, they hopefully realized the brevity of what they did and how lucky they were to not get in trouble and chalk it up to a more personal mistake and recognize their weakness. .

      I think both your view and mine are reasonable so I’ll leave it at that, but I wouldn’t go so far as calling someone part of the problem because they didn’t actively try to get some immature drunk students in trouble.

  • Keith McCammon

    Hey Matt F,

    I see a contradiction in your paired outrage that CMCers aren’t intervening and your personal non-intervention (not telling the authorities) because you don’t want to be a snitch.

    A snitch? This isn’t fourth grade, people are dying. Man up – you’re part of the problem.

    Keith McCammon

    • Matt F

      Fair point. Though I’d argue that I did intervene (made sure they were safe, made sure they would not be doing any more damage in that vehicle, and made sure the authorities were located) and I don’t believe turning intoxicated students into the authorities is necessarily a way to stop future behavior. They either get a lecture or get reprimanded, but the heinous nature of their crime “joke” doesn’t get imprinted. Instead, some authority figure is preaching about something stupid they did while drunk, and the students write it off as a drunk accident and don’t address the root problem.

      Instead, once sober, they hopefully realized the brevity of what they did and how lucky they were to not get in trouble and chalk it up to a more personal mistake and recognize their weakness. .

      I think both your view and mine are reasonable so I’ll leave it at that, but I wouldn’t go so far as calling someone part of the problem because they didn’t actively try to get some immature drunk students in trouble.

  • Concerned

    I agree with Matt F. Despite the reality that parties (and even bars) are all within walking distance, there are many students who drive drunk. What’s even worse is that these students drive drunk to do the stupidest things, like go to AMPM or In N Out. And students totally tolerate it. I’m horrified when I see someone admit that they drive drunk sometimes and then see everyone around them just giggle about it. Unfortunately it will probably take a serious incident to have the privileged idiots at this school finally think twice before getting behind the wheel. Even then, I suppose that their parent’s pricey lawyers will be able to rescue them from any meaningful consequences, as I have seen happen in many Claremont students’ DUI cases in the past. Ridiculous.

  • Concerned

    I agree with Matt F. Despite the reality that parties (and even bars) are all within walking distance, there are many students who drive drunk. What’s even worse is that these students drive drunk to do the stupidest things, like go to AMPM or In N Out. And students totally tolerate it. I’m horrified when I see someone admit that they drive drunk sometimes and then see everyone around them just giggle about it. Unfortunately it will probably take a serious incident to have the privileged idiots at this school finally think twice before getting behind the wheel. Even then, I suppose that their parent’s pricey lawyers will be able to rescue them from any meaningful consequences, as I have seen happen in many Claremont students’ DUI cases in the past. Ridiculous.

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