Unbelievable!

Thursday nights at the local Don Pablo's Mexican restaurant is 2-for-1 house margaritas. Ben and I have indulged ourselves a few times with the luscious frozen concoctions but sometimes we go on Thursday night but opt not to order any alcohol.

We've been going to this particular Don Pablo's for the 3 months that we've been in Sarasota. During this time, we've befriended a waitress named Dawn. (Although the running joke is that her name is Dawwwwwwn; emphasis on the short a sound.) She is one of the best waitresses that we've ever come into contact with at any given restaurant. She has a stellar personality, she knows her menu and she's on top of her job.

We've exchanged email addresses and are going to keep in touch. This past Thursday we had to say good-bye. She wasn't working, but the manager also knows that we've been in there almost every Thursday and always request Dawn as our server when we come in, so he called her at home and she came to the restaurant to say good-bye! How sweet was that?

Anyway, while the 3 of us were chit-chatting and saying our good-bye's, I noticed that at another table a mom was having dinner with her two sons. I also noticed that the one blonde son was drinking out of a strange looking dark-brown bottle. My brain tried to process this information and as soon as it did and I realized what was going on, the boy handed the bottle back to his mom who promptly set it down on her side of the table. The mom had LET HER SON DRINK FROM HER BEER BOTTLE!!! The son could not have been more than SIX years old! I was flabbergasted. In shock almost. I think that giving children a taste of your adult alcoholic beverage is wrong in any situation but for crying out loud, if she felt it was so necessary that her son taste what beer was like then she can do that in the privacy of her own home!

Just as I'm finally getting over my anger and frustration of what I just witnessed I look over and what do I see?? A father this time, giving his BABY (it was sitting in one of those highchair thingys) sips of his strawberry margarita through a straw. The baby kept reaching for the straw and the father, amused by this apparently, kept feeding it to the baby. I was outraged! Ben suggested that it was a virgin margarita but Dawn quickly corrected him because she informed us that the virgin drinks come in a different colored glass.

What is WITH people?? The first time that *I* E V E R tasted alcohol I was 15 or 16 and snuck into the cherry wine that my stepmom kept in the fridge for cooking!!!

I don't understand why we as a society are required to obtain licenses to drive cars, large trucks, busses and planes (some requiring even more specialized training) yet we don't require any license for having children!

I think it's more dangerous to try to raise a child than it is to fly a Cessna!

Thought Of The Day: "Give a little love to a child, and you get a great deal back." --John Ruskin

Until next time... peace, love & HEALTH!!!