This Is Priceless
June 25, 2008, Matthew Good I received this email today regarding my entry to do with Lloydminster…
“I guess someone who reads your blog called into the GOAT (radio station here in Lloydminster) and told them what your blog said about the fights outside the Kooler and that there were a lot of people driving home drunk so that caused quite a few people to call in and comment which was quite interesting…….some said you should have called the cops on the drunks drivers and someone even said you could have drove them all home on your big bus (I know how absurd is that eh) So I guess the guy that called the goat also forwarded your comments to our newspaper but I haven’t noticed it in there yet so could be interesting to see what idiots have to say about that. I sure hope the cops read it and maybe start hanging around the Kooler on weekends and see just how many impaired they can give out……there is too much of it going on and I am so against it (that and parking in handicapped stalls when not handicapped but we won’t go there hahaha)”
As far as calling the police, what about the slew of people that saw it taking place, or that see it take place on a weekly basis? But they’re absolutely right, perhaps I should have taken the initiative. Then again, I was also told that two squad cars had circled the parking lot after I mentioned it, so.
The real issue here is not with me. It’s the fact that this sort of thing occurs and that people find it completely acceptable. Where is the onus on their personal responsibility not to drink and drive? It’s quite simple - individuals are responsible for their own actions and if they’re idiots, they’re idiots.
Lastly, I am not going to provide transportation home on my tour bus, which is home to 11 people and all their belongings, for drunks when the city itself isn’t prepared to offer that service. For those that suggested that course of action, look to yourselves and your own community before suggesting I solve your bloody problems for you.
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haha, give them a lift in the tour bus…
Even if Matt used a city passenger bus for the tour and not an actual tour bus in, I’m pretty sure one of the last things he would want after a tiring show is a bunch of obnoxious drunks in the bus.
That being said, I can hope the drunk driving thing is starting to get a bit better. A couple years ago a teacher was talking to us and he said when he was young there would always be a story from one of his friends about getting hammered at a party, driving the car home and parking it in an odd angle in the driveway (or lawn), then falling in the front door. He said that stories like that were the norm and were often met with laughter.
Most of today’s youth would respond with outrage to similar stories. Hopefully I’m not just being naive and there actually is hope for this getting better than it is right now.
Matt you sound really ticked off!
I don’t detect any accusing tone in the email. The callers that called in may not have been there, and you were, which is why they would ask why you didn’t call the police. Perhaps they assumed it was just you and no one else, or they know you care about people and would be more inclined to do something.
I hope I am just misreading things, but you seem to let this stuff bother you. You might just be fed up with this type of thing, but I don’t like seeing people become upset by what others do if they can avoid it and shrug it off.
Drunks getting behind the wheel can be dealt with in many ways (such as):
1) educate the youth so they don’t drink excessively, and wait for the elders to pickle themselves to death
2) provide a friendly ride system where if you’ve had too much, a group goes out to drive people home in their own vehicles and one person follows behind in a van picking everyone up
3) stop serving alcohol to people that are already out of it
4) find out why they are drinking so much in the first place and work on changing that
5) water down the drinks so they don’t keep consuming alcohol and become even more of a mess
etc…
As you said, it is up to the community to handle this (including bartenders and police).
I’m sure there will be plenty of people wasted tomorrow night in the general area of the Orpheum. I don’t care, just walk around them and ignore them. If they get into a car, hopefully our boys in blue can spot this and do something about it in a responsible manner.
I hope you can let it go and focus on having a great show tomorrow, not just because it is my first time seeing you perform live, but because drunk people are not worth the aggravation.
Well, if anything maybe the police will start doing their job thanks to this blog and the people that called in. It’s certainly not your responsibility.
It is a little ridiculous to expect you to be the one who initiates calling the cops. It should be the cops job to be there in the first place. They know perfectly well what goes on there while people are inside, and what they are doing when they are done there. It’s irresponsible of the police force to not ENFORCE the LAW. It’s also irresponsible of these people to jump in their vehicle and drive away drunk. I know Lloyd is a small(er) town, but that doesn’t excuse this type of behaviour. In this day and age, people should bloody know better.
I think the most concerning thing here is not only the drinking and driving but the getting drunk to begin with??
It’s unfortunate that peoples’ ultimate goal when they go out is to get drunk, wasted, plastered, etc…
We’ve been utubing alot of George Carlin this week and boy oh boy did he call alot. Of all the drugs out there, alcohol has got to be the most harmful and devastating to the highest number of families. Bottom of the barrel kept there by the government and for the rest of us, if you’re not smart enough to figure it out, then you stay at the bottom of the barrel.
Maybe that’s why the police don’t sit outside these drunk infested places, what will be….will be?
I think the big-bus comment was an attempt at a clever jab. I don’t think that person was being serious.
It’s incredible to know that there are people out there who don’t care enough to stop their friends from risking their life, as well as risking the lives of others. It’s just common sense to not let your friends drive drunk. If you let your friends drive drunk, you aren’t much of a friend.
A shocking number of people are completely blasé about drunk driving. It’s the most irresponsible, selfish, stupid, dangerous, stingy, juvenile act imaginable… and yet too many people continue to see it as no big deal or something that will never affect them (or anyone else, not that they’re thinking of anyone else of course). Might I add, it’s also the EASIEST FUCKING THING in the world to NOT do. Morons, morons, morons.
Since he’s on everyone’s mind, how ’bout a George Carlin quote to sum it up: “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
A taxi ride home would of probably cost less than $25.
The risk of drinking and driving:
- Death to yourself
- Death to others
- Pain to yourself
- Pain to others
- Expensive lawyers fees
- Jail time
- No drivers license for several years
- Really expensive insurance (in the tens of thousands)
- Having to blow in a breathalyzer every time you want to start your car
Drinking and driving is totally preventable. If you drink, don’t drive. If you know you are going to drink leave your vehicle at home so you are not tempted to drive. You won’t have to second-guess yourself because a taxi will be the only way to get home. You’ll thank yourself in the morning when you are still alive and wake up at home.
you know it is bad that when someone comes to this town and stays one night they can see the biggest problems with this place. The fact is that there is very little to do here then drink and with that you get the problems that come with it. To be honest when people ask me where I live and I tell them Lloyd I get two different answers, yuck, and that place is crazy(for the drinking). The fact is that it is a boom town, not a place to raise a family, bar on every corner ready to take your hard earned money for a hang over in return. Then when someone comes into town to do a show, someone that people will talk about says something about the drinking problem people have the nerve to bash him. The point that he was trying to make was the drinking problem itself but insted of maybe looking into the problem people bash him to make the town seem better. honestly people are dying and it is no ones problem but ours. not matt good or anyone else that comes into town. And if people just want to let it go on (the cops) then I would have to say were all fuct.
Lloydminster is known as a great place to visit but honestly who the fuck wants to live here.
at least they have jobs.
Why do some citizens of Lloyd feel they need to dump their problems as a community onto you? So you roll into town for one night and you are expected to stop the drinking and driving problem and be the DD? Hopefully the concerns you expressed are shared with the local RCMP and they will be more diligent assisting the community in these areas of concern. Perhaps you should be the next mayor of the border city and make all these great changes!! I don’t know.
Homer: Oh, I’m in no condition to drive. Wait a minute. I don’t have to listen to myself. I’m drunk.
How are you responsible? Ridiculous. Amen to your last paragraph!
Can you imagine the conversation if you had called in and reported that?
“Yeah, I am at the Matt Good show here at the Kooler. I’d like to report 42 instances of drunk driving that are about to happen. Please send some squad cars over to ensure that each and every person leaving are not intending on drunk driving. Oh, nevermind, I’ll make sure each and everyone of them get home safe…. that’s what a tour bus is for, isn’t it?”
That was funny to read, but sad to think about. You driving the drunkies home after the show in your tour bus…I can’t believe they even came up with that idea.
I think there was a high level of sarcasm involved with the “tour bus” idea, however, I think the main issue here is that people drink and drive.
There is definitely a social responsibility upon ourselves to ensure that we don’t drink and drive, but idiots WILL BE idiots and there’s little that any of us can do here.
Is it Matt’s responsibility to call the cops? No. Was it somebody outside the clubs responsibility? NO. Was it the responsibility of the servers in the venue (or the venue itself) to ensure they weren’t serving people well past their limit? More than likely, YES. I see this here in Toronto all the time. The venue just wants to rake in the cash and fails to worry about the consequence of what could happen (if it did). And at the Oshawa show, this was no different as there were quite a few people standing around me that were completely trashed but continued to be served. Ultimately, it’s OUR OWN responsibility to know the limit, however, assholes will still be out there who feel that it’s safe to drink and drive. At the Oshawa show, my wife and I bailed as soon as the last note of “Automatic” happened knowing we didn’t want to be in an accident.
I’ve never understood why they “temporarily” suspend a license, either. As far as I’m concerned, you blow over ONCE and that should be it. Hand over your keys, your license, your cars impounded and that’s that. There is NO REASON to just offer a suspension for a year or whatnot. Too many innocent people are killed far too often by morons who feel they’re “okay” to drive. If people knew they would lose their license, their car and possibly receive a $10 or $20-thousand dollar fine, I’m sure they wouldn’t drink and drive. And if they did, well, they’re fucking idiots.
I’m off my soapbox.
amen
Amen, yes.
Getting closer though, you’ll see that it’s everyones duty.
Matt,
This calls for one of your power point presentations on personal responsibility and drinking 101
I’ll contribute my expertise in the designated driver portion.
As stated above plain and simple, friends don’t let friends drive drunk.
I’m honestly kind of disgusted that somebody would even suggest you drive home the drunks. It’s not your responsibility in the slightest.
I can’t believe anyone would honestly want to mar their memory of your show by drinking! I’m not against drinking although i am against drinking and driving I just could never see myself doing anything to inhibate my memory of one of Matt’s shows!
You’re kidding me right? I had it all planned out. Get drunk off belini’s at the Cactus club, rock it out to MG after and then park it on the bus after getting the liquid courage to do so. Now you’re telling me I’m not allowed to get on the bus and get a ride home to THE C.O.Q? GET OUT!!! that shot my plans all to hell.
p.s.There are times that I think to myself if I could save a life, I will call the cops, and I have called them.. But it’s just out of my control.. so, all I can do is pray that no one gets hurt out there… we must all pray now…
Pray for the bus gods to LET ME ON!!!!!
ok the whole idea of you using your tour bus to give these people a ride home and your response has given me a much need laugh. What are these people thinking??? Hopefully this will bring to light the problem and a course of action will be set in place to prevent it from happing again.
oh another p.s. I read in 24 today that the concert in Vancouver is now sold out….
I still have one ticket up for grabs, kids!!!!!!
soderlunds@shaw.ca
How many times to people need to be told not to drink and drive? Its so awful and stupid!
As for the tour bus, exactly, Matt- the city should be prepared to deal with it especially if it is a reoccurring issue!
PS I’m so jealous of anyone who is attending the NOTL show in August. Blast.
From Matt’s original post on the parking lot situation, and from what Jayred says, I think it’s pretty clear that this is not a question of a few random drunks, but rather more likely a situation of systemic alcohol abuse in this community. The lock-em-up-and-throw-away-the-key mentality is fine, but how much is it different from any other kind of blanket statement of intolerance or lack of complete understanding of a situation? My dad was an alcoholic who spent a year serving jail time on weekends for drunk driving when I was a kid. He wasn’t “stupid” or a “moron” or an “idiot” - he had a disease…They framed his sentence around the fact that a full conviction would make him lose his job and destroy the lives of his family which included two young children…and they also insisted that he get treatment - very forward thinking for the seventies, if you ask me. You’d have a tough job convincing me that the excessive drinking at the Lloydminster show was some kind of directed display of disrespect towards Matthew Good, rock star. Social disease, mental disease, it comes in all flavours. “Just say no” is a simple answer and this sounds like a complicated problem. I have to admit my disappointment that some of the reactions here (drunk people = bad people) are no less ignorant than the counter-suggestions that Matt should have taken personal responsibility for a terrible situation that started before his tour bus arrived in town, and will continue long after its departure. Matt held up a mirror…it’s up to the community to seek a cure for themselves - again, I think this is bigger than a problem with individuals making bad choices…but regardless, blind accusations and judgments help no one.
There have been numerous (unsuccesful) lawsuits regarding a bar tender/owner’s responsibility to make sure their patrons are not driving drunk. All of them (from my research) have failed. At every level of government it has been decided that the condition you choose to drive in is the responsibility of you, the driver, and the not the person or bar that serves you booze. This is why bars don’t have breathalizers at the exits. Doing so could (arguably) make your driving ability their problem, and they don’t want to deal with that.
You are responsible for your own choices.
First few results from a google search on “Lloydminster alcohol”
A brief report on Matt’s visit to the town, as well as info announced 5 days earlier on Alberta’s new, tougher drinking and driving laws, to come into effect July 1 (along with an opinion poll about it): http://00668f9.netsolhost.com/
Also, from here: http://www.drug-rehab.ca/albertadrugrehab/Lloydminster-drug-rehab.htm
“Lloydminster has two rehab facilities which one is a recovery home just for man and the other one is an out-patient, residential treatment and withdrawal management. The number of drug rehabilitations in Lloydminster is not sufficient compare to the problem of dependency to drugs and alcohol in the city.”
I’m done.
Time for my two cents…
No, it is not up to Matt and his crew to call the police. Nor is it up to him to offer rides home to numerous intoxicated individuals (even if the tour bus comment was a futile attempt at sarcasm).
Is it up to the dozens of people who witnessed this occurrence to call the police? Perhaps, as I’m sure more than 9 out of 10 people nowadays carry a cell phone and could have made that annonymous call.
The problem here lies with the venue itself. In Ontario it is the responsibility of the venue to ensure the realitive safety of it’s patrons. This applies not only inside the venue or even on the property. It applies even after the patron has left the premesis.
Having worked in the nightclub industry, first and foremost (at least in Ontario) it is the resposibility of bar staff to ensure that overserving does not occur and if and when it does, that individual is cut off from service and in most cases escorted from the premisis (and given a free taxi voucher to safely get home).
Many people are not aware that it is actually illegal to be intoxicated, even in a bar.
What it ammounts to is that many people who serve alcohol in these type of establishments are more concerned with making another tip than doing the responsible thing and ensuring the safety of the people they are serving as well as those that may be effected as a direct result of their inabillity to hold back that 5th round of Jagerbombs.
In Ontario, anyone serving open alcohol must complete the S.M.A.A.R.T Serve program to educate them about about their responsibilities as a server as well as any legal and liability issues regarding their job.
I have mine in my pocket.
Do the people out in Llyodminster have theirs?
Sorry Matt but you just don’t get it. It was the police’ job to make it so people didn’t drink and drive not the people.
This is the kind of thinking that leads our society to be so individualist and status-quo-ist. Nothing ever changes because “I shouldn’t do anything…why doesn’t he do something”.
That was the beauty of religion back in the days. If something went wrong: “Well I guess God didn’t want this to happen” or “God wanted to punish us”. Now it’s “Well the police wasn’t there to stop them” or “The Government should do this or that”.
responsibility, Noun, pl -ties
1. The state, quality, or fact of being responsible.
2. Something for which SOMEONE ELSE is responsible; a duty, obligation, or burden.
3. Something that one must never have and must give to someone else.
Piggybacks
Totally true, I hate how ignorant people can be. They leave everything up to everyone else and wonder ‘how did this happen?’. Would it have been anyone else writting that blog no one would of judged or made a fuss , but it is so easy to target people in the public eye. I can just picture the next headlines “People killed by drunk driving, Matt Good is to blame’. Honestly! People need to grow up and take responsibility for their own action.
That is ridiculous for anyone to expect you to try to take care of the problems of a city that you’re performing in. If any of the citizens and the police don’t want to shoulder the responsibility of fixing things, then they’ve got no one to blame but themselves.
Oh and just to add. I’ve also spotted tons of drunk drivers and never called it in. If im driving alone late at night , do you think im going to start looking for my cellphone and dialing away? I rather pay attention to what the moron infront of me is doing , cause if im not then I might get into an accident. Plus , arent they making it illegal to talk on your cellphone while driving? Even if whomever has a passenger , not everyone has a cellphone. So piss off already.
Matt says:…
“The real issue here is not with me. It’s the fact that this sort of thing occurs and that people find it completely acceptable. Where is the onus on their personal responsibility not to drink and drive? It’s quite simple - individuals are responsible for their own actions and if they’re idiots, they’re idiots.”
Amen brother. I often fantasize about a world where people are truly responsible for thier own actions. The simple notions that a bartender can be held responsible for one guy drinking too much and driving home or the idea that someone hosting a house party is responsible for how many shots of tequila someone did on a different floor or how many lines of coke they did, privately, in the ensuite bathroom before sliding in behind the wheel of their sportscar killing machine are so………….illogical.
I wonder how much money has been spent on lawyers who continue to find someone else to blame for the actions of an individual whose only possible valid excuse for not knowing the law would be that they’ve just wandered out of the Amazon jungle after spending the first 20 years of their life covered in red mud, eating beatles, and throwing rocks at airplanes. In our society, our capacity for idiocy is only matched by our capacity for the tolerance and forgiveness of idiocy.
some say save a horse, ride a cowboy…. i say, save a cowboy/girl and ride a horse… Im no expert, but, one would think there is no better DD than a horse…especially in small town Alberta!
No you shouldn’t have had to drive everyone home on your bus, people who decide to drink should determine how they’re getting home safely before they drink and before they even go out. Back when I was in college our school would organize a bus that would drive the students to and from the bar on Fridays and weekends but then some people were too cool for that and would drive. This sounds like a great idea for the cities to start doing not even for the convienience of the drunk people but for the safety of those that are killed by the drunk drivers. It’s scary to be driving home just after 2am and seeing the person ahead of you swerving in and out of the lane.
I’ve noticed that a lot of the more popular clubs/bars around here have at least 2 police officers posted outside the door so that nobody gets past or have cruisers come around the time everyone starts to leave to make sure everyone is good to drive. But then this is a tourist city with a decent size police force of both city and provincial police, I realize small towns might not have many officers to start with to be able to do this.
Everyone should just get a ride on Alberta’s superfluous love for Ralph Klein.
Wow… i’m amazed that this tour just keeps getting better … unreal really
It is so much easier to pass the responsibility and rid oneself of the onus to take action and it seems this is the case here with the folks of Lloydminster
Idiots will be idiots and they’ll continue to be regardless of the action taken, so really there’s not much you can do about that!
Unfortunately, lessons will have to learned the hard way. Sad to say, but so very true.
When i called the radio station about Matts blog monday morning i did so in an attempt to bring a very serious problem up that some people (as many callers said that day) say happens everywhere, not just Lloydminster. Yet i really think this place is worse than others, so somebody has to do something about it, starting now, not later.
But i have to goto bat for the hometown. Its a group of idiots doing these things. There are more good people in this city than bad. Its a boom town with lots of hard working people who are very responsible and don’t drive drunk, get in fights, ect. I have 2 kids here and raising them here is going very well. Do we deserve the lashing we are getting about this topic? Yes. But please don’t think we are all like that. And i REALLY hope this won’t keep us off a future tour date.
It’s pretty shocking (and terrible) that circling cops did nothing; town pride begs to point the finger elsewhere, I suppose. Plenty of people could and should have done something, including those drinking.
Yeah, yeah, people get stupid when they’re drunk. Ignorance is never okay, especially in this day and age when there are are a ridiculous amount of alternatives to driving drunk. If you’re the type of idiot who thinks they’re invincible when drunk, prevention can happen before you even take the first shot. You know, like NOT taking your car to the bar/party, assigning a DD, taking a bus, taking a cab, giving your keys away, etc. But there is a disturbing amount of people who think being drunk absolves them (and others) from being an idiot; and even more disturbing are the amount of people, at the first hint of trouble, who think “It’s not my problem,” or, “It’s not my problem it should be that guy, he’s closer!”
Really, it’s everyone’s problem (though the individual should take the first initiative), but to say, “Well, this famous guy who pointed it out didn’t do the things that X-number of people should have done before he set foot in the city, let’s blame him!” ? That’s just silly.
Officer Good, you should have been all over that - shame on you, what do I pay my taxes for?
[quote comment="56811"]Officer Good, you should have been all over that - shame on you, what do I pay my taxes for?[/quote]
this made me laugh.
HAHAHAHA!!!
Hey, wait a minute Matt!!- you mean you don’t wanna a bunch of drunks back there hangin with you in your lounge at the back of the bus? *wink*
I agree with you completely. It is NOT your responsibility to fix an entire community! We’ll put Matt and I’m glad you stood up for yourself.
how laughable to think that matthew good should somehow be responsible for the behaviour of other adults. how horrible to think that there are still millions of fools who drink then get behind the wheel of a car. why is it that people cannot ‘police’ themselves? seriously. since highschool, the dangers of drinking and driving have been drilled into all of our heads via tv/radio commercials, news reports and word of mouth. how compromised is someone’s impulse control if they need to get shit-faced and still drive? i enjoy a drink as much as the next person, but i would never, ever endanger the lives of others by driving a vehicle afterwards. this isn’t neurophysics, people. you drink, you don’t bloody drive. it’s as simple as that.
and as for the suggestion that these imbeciles could not control themselves due to their disease of alcoholism… well, i hardly think that the crowd in lloydminster was comprised wholly of alcoholics. i believe, rather, that the vast majority of them are of the mindset that they are invincible; you know that ‘life’s-short-party-hard’ attitude that most of us grew-out of in grade 10; come on guys, let’s rock-out to ‘load me up’, drive home blind drunk, then brag about it the next day when we made it home unscathed. that behaviour is arsed-up, unacceptable, immature, and totally not m.g’s responsibility.
makes me sad, quite frankly.
Well said sugar.
[quote comment="56811"]Officer Good, you should have been all over that - shame on you, what do I pay my taxes for?[/quote]
I have to say it…thank you very much for putting that mental image in my head. You are very kind. :p
You know, part of me wants you to totally mock them when you return. As part of your rider, you should require the venue get you something like 500 taxi vouchers. They want it to make it your responsibility, let them - the price they pay is the embarrassment that you brought light to the fact they are more interested in making the money off their liquor sales than the lives of their patrons.
Suggestion, of course.
Just to clarify - I wasn’t suggesting that Lloydminster is a town full of alcoholics…I’m suggesting that a mass acceptance of this kind of behaviour is as much a social issue as it is a quesition of individual responsibility.
Who’s responsible???
The induvidual is.
Sad that others have to take precautions for fools who don’t understand that each time they get behind the wheel while intoxicated, they are a dangerous accident just waiting to happen. To me this sounds like a problem very out of control that will only get worst unless some one steps in and changes what now has been accepted as the norm. Be it the venue, promoter, servers or artist.
Although it’s not their responsiblity (and definitly not Matt’s) they are the one’s who can make small changes that will guide these poor blind drunken fools home saftly. A program such as free buss rides to residential area’s would be a great start. Then a demand for more police presence, early cut off time for all customers, limit beer tickets, ect…..
Are you listening Lloydminster??????