If they just wanted to deter it [underage drinking], they would wear uniforms. But what they want is to bust people.

The new standard calls for employers to provide cool drinking water, and enough of it for each worker to have one quart per employee per hour worked. That's a lot of water to have all at once, so fortunately the standard allows employers to replenish supplies throughout the day.

They are not only drinking more than their male peers, but they are now more likely to drink more heavily than their male peers.

I try to convince myself that it's the alcohol talking. But alcohol can't talk. It just sits there. It can't even get itself out of the bottle.

At the end of the day we know how to reduce and prevent underage drinking. What is lacking is the will to put what we know to work on behalf of our youth.

For the first twenty years of my life, I rocked myself to sleep. It was a harmless enough hobby, but eventually, I had to give it up. Throughout the next twenty-two years I lay still and discovered that after a few minutes I could drop off with no problem. Follow seven beers with a couple of scotches and a thimble of good marijuana, and it’s funny how sleep just sort of comes on its own. Often I never even made it to the bed. I’d squat down to pet the cat and wake up on the floor eight hours later, having lost a perfectly good excuse to change my clothes. I’m now told that this is not called “going to sleep” but rather “passing out,” a phrase that carries a distinct hint of judgment.