OT: Why do we do the things we do?

[Renegade 13]

Why do we do such foolish things? Is it human nature to punish ones self?

Let me give you some background for this rant. I was just at a party, a graduation party. It was outside, we had a big fire going, and we had a lot of people there; probably 30 grads plus about 75 or so other people, mostly between the ages of 16 and 25. And nearly all of them were/are drunk or at the very least drinking. There were very few sober people there.

So there I am, after drinking a bit. It's been a few hours since I had anything to drink, so I'm pretty much sober by this time. One of my friends comes up to me, has me hold her arm while she goes somewhere. No big deal. I'm used to taking care of my drunk friends. So we go where she needed to go, and then we come back to the party. On our way there, we meet up with one of her other friends, a Swiss dude she knows pretty well. Now this guy is a coke head, into all sorts of illegal drugs, you name it. My friend, understandably, isn't happy when she learns that this guy, her friend, was just doing some harsh drugs at the party. One thing leads to another, harsh words are spoken, and my friend ends up sitting in the mud, by a river, crying because of what her druggie friend is doing to himself. I try to comfort her as best I can, but I'm not so good at that kind of thing.

Another friend of mine drank an entire 2-6 of whiskey to himself over the course of about 4 hours. Of course, a 2-6 is the equivalent of 26 drinks...all within 4 hours. So of course he's by this time lying on a wood pile puking his guts out, and I'm there taking care of him as best I can.

My question is simple. Why do we do these things to ourselves? Why do we drink ourselves into oblivion, why do people do drugs, why do we end up hurting the friends that we care about, by our stupid choices and actions? Is there any hope for a generation that grows up like I've described above, is there any way to heal the emotional scars left by such experiences? And most importantly...is there any way to help the ones we care about when they're going through a hard time, due to their own bad choices, or the bad choices of others that have hurt them.

I'm torn. I know these people, I know that they're good people, my friends. But at the same time, they do such stupid things to themselves and others. What can be done? Do I simply have to sit by, and pick up the pieces as best I can? Do I have to agonize late at night like this, and wonder if there's anything I could have done, or could do to make this better for my friends? Do we simply have to stand by, and let these people either kill themselves and others, or grow up, mature?

These are the questions that haunt my nights.