Has anyone ever read 'We Real Cool'? The line between kid and adult is very thin at some point.

Is it when you wake-up stuck to the sheets?

rkz...I think you've got it exactly right. The drinking age in the US has always been something that's puzzled me, especially since when I was a young person there were always plenty of 18 - 21 yr old Americans in pubs etc doing the same things the aussie teenagers were doing. I even remember discussing it with different ones of different occasions and getting the same response that you've given here.

Surely if you're trying to protect your 'children' then they shouldn't be allowed to travel on international flights without supervision either. That way they couldn't come to countries with lower drinking ages and get drunk legally.

I have no problem if a person drinks "responsibly." When someone gets drunk and starts making an ass out of themselves, becomes beligerent, drives, and whatever stupid thing a drunk person can do as a result of drinking in excess. Then I have a problem with it.

You are right - "adult is adult."

Adults can suffer the consequences of their actions. Unfortunately, the consequences are not always commensurate with their actions.

True story in small town America:

This young man got drunk. He was driving very fast. He crossed the center line and hit a car head on. Killed the father and his son. The mother lived but had to be extracted from the car by the jaws of life. Her young (dead) son was inches from her face while they were working on getting her out. The young man who was the cause of the accident had to have his foot amputated. He had his drivers license suspended, was charged with vehicular manslughter but served no time. I saw this kid less than a year later at the local tavern - drunk.

I wonder how many stories like that have older people in them?

I wonder if he had counselling or any other kind of help to deal with his fucked up brain after killing two people and losing a limb. Yeah yeah, of course he's a shithead for what he did, but he'll be paying for it for the rest of his life as well, so that's something to keep people happy.

I vote for not sending them off to war. :D