Friday, November 14, 2008

You Might Not Know

I just read 50 Facts You Might Not Know About Barack Obama, and the one that struck me most was that he did drugs when he was a teenager, including marijuana and cocaine.

I'm not sure what sort of opinions are formed about that. In my mind, I imagine a lot of people saying "tsk tsk." But that's because, in my mind, people are sometimes unforgiving. Or maybe I just like to demonize "people" so I can have views that are so much more open-minded and loving, and I can sit around thinking I'm special. This post is based on that specialness I'm granting myself.

See, I think Barack offers hope when he admits to mistakes from his past. I'll bet there are plenty of people out there who think, "Well, I screwed up, so I guess I'll never get to ________." And that's just no good, limiting yourself like that, just because of the past. I'm sure there are kids who have given up on themselves, thinking they could never be president of their high school class or a Fortune 500 company or the Free World, because they did some stupid stuff, and that could come up in a background check, and ruin everything. Barack is an example of why that doesn't have to be the case.

I smoked marijuana once. I was in college. I drank some Mike's Hard Lemonade, and let my guard down, and when my friend's friend brought out a pipe, I figured, "You only go around once" so I smoked it. I remember laughing at a frat boy's impression of Jim Carey, and then I ended up on the kitchen floor with a stomachache. That was enough to convince me I didn't need to experience that, and I have always regretted my choice that night, because now I can't say, "I've never given in."

A little part of me always figured that I'd never get to do certain things, because of that mistake. Like, I'll probably never be a Young Woman's President, unless I live somewhere like Miami (think Golden Girls Miami, not Miami Vice Miami), where I'm the only woman under the age of 70, and even then, I won't count on it. Not that I'm like, CAMPAIGNING for Young Women's or anything. I just figured there will always be other women who could say, "I'm a good role model for our youth, because I was a good youth." I can't say that.

But, you know, when the President of the United States says, "I did coke," it makes me say to myself, "There is forgiveness. There is room for error." And I feel like I can move forward, and maybe even use my mistakes to teach others how to move forward because, "Hey, I've been there."

And then I think, "Uh, I should have just read the Bible and gotten the same forgiveness message, duh." But I'm kind of slow.

I blame it on the killing of brain cells that occurred right after I laughed at a bad Ace Ventura impression back in 2001.

5 comments:

diane said...

I'm glad I've never smoked weed. Or been arrested for shoplifting. Or done anything else bad. I'm a pillar of the community. If you ever need anyone to show you the straight and narrow, I will be your tour guide.

Katy said...

I think your experience makes you human, which is good. It just adds to Renee. I understand you wanting to say you've never tried anything though. Some day soon, when you, me, erin and keiko meet for lunch over x-mas and discuss blogs and a certain someone's "mom's-craft" blog, I'll tell you about my one and only weed experience.

Katy said...

I think your experience makes you human, which is good. It just adds to Renee. I understand you wanting to say you've never tried anything though. Some day soon, when you, me, erin and keiko meet for lunch over x-mas and discuss blogs and a certain someone's "mom's-craft" blog, I'll tell you about my one and only weed experience.

diane said...

First Renee, now Katy: "one and only?" Who are you people???

mrsmouthy said...

I also consider it major progress that this wasn't even brought up in the campaigning. Remember Clinton, with the whole "scandal" over whether he inhaled or not? Go America!