In Reply to: how old r u posted by mr_cool on Saturday, 13. August 2005 at 20:57 Bali Time:
Hi Mr Cool. Not a criticism, but something to think about.
I learned to dance when I was 16. My mother, who was a very smart lady, told me that it was the best way to meet girls and she was right. Now isn't that was most guys want to do, meet girls? Maybe because I could dance and had the confidence to ask girls without needing to get some artificial courage first, I usually went to the dance early, whilst my mates went to the pub to get some "Dutch courage".
I tried a cigarette when I was 10. I didn't like it and couldn't finish it. I never tried it again. When I was about 13, many of my mates would ask me what was wrong with me because I wouldn't have a cigarette. By the time I was 16, the same guys were telling me that I was lucky because I didn't smoke.
I was called up into the Royal Navy at the time of the Korean War in 1952. We got a generous allowance of duty free cigarettes for almost nothing. I took mine ashore and sold them to supplement my very meagre pay, so that I could afford to go dancing every chance I got.
I've liked a drink ever since I was a young teenager and still do. I've been seriously drunk three times, once each at 17, 18 and 19. Each time something happened which I wish hadn't. I learned something from that.
A friend offered me a marijuana cigarette when I was 20 [in 1954]. I just thanked her and said that I didn't smoke. I wasn't judgemental, she was a nice girl and a good friend, but as a total non-smoker, I wasn't even tempted and I was glad of that.
I've never even considered trying anything else. I know how to have a good time and I value my health and fitness. As for giving in to peer pressure, I define that as being gutless.
I think that the legal means to control drugs in most countries are inappropriate and unworkable. And also largely useless. I also think that the legal penalties in Bali for marijuana are ridiculous. But, when in Bali, no way would I risk a few years or more in the Kerobokan Hilton for dabbling in risky substances, particularly when alcohol is so cheap.
I'm still fit enough to go out several times a week and dance. If you think that a person of my age can't still have a very active life, then you don't know the kind of people who I socialise with.
There are no guarantees in life, but you can lengthen the odds and you can shorten the odds. My main objective is to be able to enjoy the things I like to do [without giving myself too much of a hard time] for as long as I reasonably can. And isn't that what most people would want out of life?