FROM 5 TO 7:30

[Music] my dad says that he's going to be all right lucky guy the paper said he was doing over 80 and the other car looked like an accordion what was the matter with him nothing a few less beers wouldn't have fixed come off it hansen you sure he was drinking yes i'm sure think of that woman and her little boy i can't get over it i saw him dig out here yesterday and now two people he's never even seen are dead hey joe seen the paper yeah i've seen it he should have been killed he wasn't looking for someone to run over not much difference driving when he's drunk what's the matter joel you got something against eddie let's drop it see you after basketball practice sure see you later on the 25th wednesday we take on regis high anyone who can't make practice on tuesday me coach what's the problem miss coulson has me for remedial english she'll let you make it up i guess you all know that eddie won't be with us at least not the first part of the season he may not be able to play again until next year it might be a good idea if the team visits him before our first game let him know we'll miss him he's had a rough break you always said you'd drop anyone in broke training eddie broke training and hurt a lot of innocent people besides all right quiet joe eddie's having a rough time if we want to buck eddie up just make us league champion all right let's play some basketball [Music] hi jeff all right college practice pretty good okay you're walking this wild man home you better take me along for protection who's gonna protect me from you i'll take care of him sure make sure he doesn't blow his time i'll take care of him nothing i like better than looking after joe waldron [Music] you better work on your math project tonight it's due tomorrow i guess it'll be pretty good joe you're feeling better now aren't you about eddie i guess so it's just that anyone who drinks is asking for trouble eddie knows that as well as anyone and i don't feel sorry for him he's a murderer and that's how he ought to be treated but it was an accident he had a choice whether he should drink or not he had a choice whether to drive or not but he didn't know what he was doing you can't hold him responsible but i do that's what i'm talking about can't you see that i guess i don't see really joe you can't change things overnight why not if people would only try i guess i'd better be going now can we go in and sit for a while no mother's there would she mind well no it's just that i've got to help with dinner okay she's your mother joe yeah don't be mad see you tomorrow [Music] hi joe have you been i was over at ruth martin's now mother how many roofs do i know at least a hundred it seems to me okay i see what you mean where's dad we should be here any minute now you keep out of there i've got a good dinner coming all right hi joe hi dad good day you know me joe dear can i leave dinner long enough for a drink everything's all set you're feeling good what happened i made a deal on the peter's property we signed a contract tomorrow they've taken a 20-year lease oh how about a waldron special to celebrate fine now one lemon hmm could we have dinner a little early tonight mom i have to finish my math project open just a little while joe we're having a casserole that's already in the oven ah okay that's my girl you always did appreciate my talents well how's it going at school joe pretty good dad oh you know eddie reinhardt don't you joe yeah he was in an accident last night really joe is he a friend of yours he was no friend of mine we weren't the same crowd his father's a little shaken up apparently the kid had a few beers his parents thought they were going to a drive-in movie but the next thing they know they get a call from the hospital that he was always bragging about his drinking it caught up with him that's all well now i remember my old beer drinking crab we talked a lot but we were generally pretty careful we pulled some crazy stunts but it was all part of growing up learning to live in a man's world learning to drink sure sort of you you feel pretty strong about drinking don't you joe a liquor can be a pretty terrible thing when it gets out of control but you've got to remember that for every drunk there must be dozens of intelligent sensible people who know how to control their drinking and enjoy it it's good to take a drink and relax when you're older you'll learn to appreciate it more now don't get me wrong i'd be just as happy if you never touched a drop but a few drinks never hurt anyone as long as he knew what he was doing how about a second here now real alcoholics and i've known a few are pretty mixed up guys in the first place they get into bars some don't have homes where they can relax and their drinking gets out of hand mom what about dinner just a few minutes joe all right i'll go see how it's coming when i was overseas during the war i used to have dinner with italian families where everybody even the kids drank wine with their meal very few alcoholics over there because drinking was accepted as as a part of family life no no dear that was long time ago years years ago when i was very very much younger no what i mean is joe you've got to learn to relax a little bit now i couldn't ask for a better kid but but joe sometimes sometimes i don't think you have as much fun as i did when i was your age the trouble is joe people have to learn to control their liquor well anyway anyway we went up to this this guy's apartment it was charlie's friend's place and this was the night before the election so we started talking about politics well i told them right then dewey can't win and i told him why i knew he didn't have a chance tomorrow night truman will be in the white house you wait and see you never told me about this now will you you listen and you'll see why well one of the fellows there said would you bet 50 on that and i said i would and before you know it everybody wanted to get in on it in half an hour i'd bet most of the down payment on the house well when truman got in when truman what do you say um don the mantle of history is that it is that what what the guy said on the radio came from illinois missouri no no no no i don't think so well anyway when harry got in i should have won a thousand dollars and i asked charlie whether i should collect whatever happened to charlie's daughter who cares about charlie's doll i'm telling you a story she was very sweet a very nice girl joe took her to a party remember joe she was very very sweet that was mr morley's daughter she's gone east to college maybe you're right well anyway charlie said that all the guys had agreed that they weren't going to collect from me if i lost they were going to go easy on me but i said oh ho no i bet's the bet i would have paid off but charlie said it would have broken you and i said if i am not worried about paying off why should they be he couldn't answer that and he was one of the first ones who wanted to bet i didn't want to money anyway really mother yes joe could we please eat dinner i forgot the oven ah don't worry dear i'm not too hungry [Music] i should have turned it off i just can't understand how i could have forgotten nah don't cry okay we can have a sandwich later on i'm not very hungry anyway come on let's go back into the living room no no we we should have dinner i've got it i'll go down to the corner and get a pizza and then we can have it right here in the kitchen dad yes what is the joke are you gonna drive well i don't see any other way of getting down to the store and no trains or planes in that direction oh all right joe here are the keys you drive the car [Music] you can't be mad at the whole world try to convince people then if you can let them go maybe that's okay for eddie but my faults i can only take so many nights like last night i just can't stand it i can't let them go last night all i wanted to do was get out of there but i couldn't just stay there to take care of them my folks don't drink they never have your mom and dad could see a doctor i've heard about some pills what about the aaa or something but they won't even admit they have a problem when they're high is the only time i can show them what's happening then they don't care the next morning i want to forget about it as much as they do next night it starts all over again why don't you talk it over with the coach coach sure sure he's a good guy he won't tell anyone else it's an idea i know he's okay sure he won't tell anyone i guess that's about all it sounds pretty simple really i don't want to waste your time have you ever thought that your parents might be sick think of alcoholism as a disease it doesn't do any good to blame the alcoholic maybe you can't help what he does any more than you can help getting a cold i don't see what you mean somewhere along the line there's a time when you can decide about drinking there must be lots of times like that when you can take it or leave it before you begin to need it maybe mom and dad are sick but i can't forget that they make up their own minds to be sick every time they take a drink i can't give you all the answers joe but i'll tell you this you're not alone every kid in school has got to make his own choice about drinking it's a problem for us teachers too things like that accident of eddies we've arranged to have a program for the seniors arrange to have an expert give us the facts on alcohol the effects of drinking maybe it'll give us all some answers oh skinny wait a minute hi ruth hi how do you think no why i don't know why really it's just that he's been acting so strangely i've even forgotten what it's like to see him smile well i wouldn't be smiling much better if i had to face up with his problem problem i mean as folks going to a lecture on alcohol is one thing having your own folks mixed up in it is another oh he didn't tell you no but i'm glad you told me oh joe here we are now i've thrown a lot of statistics and scientific facts at you statistics and facts which clearly show the destructiveness of alcohol some people do not like statistics and facts when they are contrary to their particular own point of view this reminds me of what an executive one time said to a salesman my mind is made up don't confuse me with the facts however this problem is individually and nationally a serious problem it is the third or fourth public health problem in the united states today in regard to size delinquency broken homes felonies are either a direct or an indirect result of drinking which costs the american public from 50 to 60 billions of dollars every year it is estimated that for every dollar spent for an alcoholic beverage five dollars are needed to repair the damages alcohol even in small amounts increases the accident rate killing and maiming thousands all over the country you've had a sad example of this right here in your own school recently there is no getting away from it alcohol is a habit-farming drug that causes mental moral and physical deterioration brings misery and suffering to the wife and children of the victim i'm sure that some of you here in my audience today know loved ones who have become a victim to alcohol let us face it there is no harmless alcoholic beverage beer wine rum gin whiskey all of these contain alcohol now what can we do about it what can young people do about it the answer is simple do not get started [Music] maybe i should go home now you have to help your mother as usual now joe why shouldn't i help my mother i didn't mean you shouldn't it's just that i've never met your folks i'm beginning to think there's something wrong with me ruth ruth bring your friend in won't you please i can't blame you young man you're joe walden yes ma'am your father's not home yet won't you please come in it's okay i'll be glad yes make yourself comfortable can i get you some ginger ale yes please this your father oh yes that was taken in front of the shop but he doesn't get home till late usually there are a lot of television repairs and emergency calls to make here we are oh please sit down oh ruth tells me you're on the basketball team yes ma'am i got my letter last year oh good mr martin used to play to hear him talk you think the only thing he did at college was play basketball it gets to be pretty important hmm i don't know how ruth would have gotten through math this year without your help are you planning to be an engineer well hey where is everybody well what do we got here a party i've never been one to pass up a party how are you mama hi have a good day ruthie oh my day at the store was terrible see i saw pete he looks horrible i know what he's been doing to himself was this a conspiracy to prevent me from meeting this young gentleman i'm so sorry this is joe walden dear joe waldron ruth told me all about you wasn't either one that was high point man last week i read in the papers 22 26 or something like that 24. well i'll be darned you know basketball was my game back in college i was the terror of the referee here mother you take my glass i'll go start dinner over you stay here i'll do it mama let her go the practice will do her good huh joe yes sir let me fix that one up for you mom no thanks you know i won't drink oh come on now don't be a wet blanket a man shouldn't drink alone surely joe right right see if it's sorry i'll go help ruth in the kitchen can't say i blame you joe well mama down there [Music] i don't know what to say joe sometimes he gets really bad it's the same at my house both of mine skinny told me joe what are we going to do i guess it's like dr ivy says and the only guarantee against alcoholism as a cause of accidents and human misery is total abstinence each one of you can make up your own mind to leave it alone we've got to make up our own minds we can decide to leave it alone [Music] you