Asheboro - Still Dry . . . .

I grew up in Asheboro, North Carolina. Though I currently live in Lillington and call it home, I still consider Asheboro my home too. My parents still live there; so I visit frequently.

I enjoyed growing up in Asheboro. It was a small city but we were close enough to Greensboro that we could be to a good shopping mall or restaurant in 30 minutes or so. As long as I've been alive, Asheboro has always been a "dry" city - meaning businesses can not sell alcohol within the city limits. Today, Asheboro is the largest dry city in the state.

I grew up in a family where alcohol just was not an issue. No one drank - so it was never around. I knew the damage it could do and I honestly never had the desire to drink. Now, I do not think that drinking alcohol in and of itself is wrong. It is the excessiveness of it that makes it wrong. People tend to lose control when they are under the influence of alcohol. Have you ever watched someone get drunk? If you haven't, all you have to do is go to a baseball game and you'll most likely see the process happen before your eyes. People start out fairly normal and with each beer their language becomes more loose and beligerant and their actions become more slurred. This past weekend my entire family was in Atlanta and I promise that the people sitting in front of us had anywhere from 6 - 10 bottles of beer a piece. By the time the game was over they were completely wasted and I all could think about was who was driving those people home!

All of this to say - Asheboro is having an Alcohol vote on Tuesday, July 29th. The City Council was split, with 4 votes for and 3 votes against the referendum. They held a Town Council meeting this past Tuesday evening to discuss the matter. They had chairs for 180 people - those chairs were full and there were an additional 100 people standing. According to the show of hands, most of the people were against the vote.

The persons pushing for this vote are trying to say it will help Asheboro economically. Cities all around Asheboro sell alcohol, and have for years, yet I have seen little to no growth in their towns or communities. However, Asheboro has continued to grow, even without the sell of alcohol. I graduated from Asheboro High in 1987 and I can not even begin to list all the changes that have taken place in Asheboro since that time. All without the sell of alcohol. We now have a Chili's and a Rock-Ola's which both do amazingly well and are constantly packed out.

I have no problem with people drinking responsibly. The problem is that too many people do not drink responsibly. I personally do not believe that by bringing alcohol to Asheboro that the situation will be helped. Asheboro already lists one of its greatest health problems as alcohol and drug addiction and yet they want to make it even easier for people to purchase?! I have a close friend who has gotten behind the wheel too many times after drinking excessively. We have had several serious conversations about this. Everytime the news comes on and reports the death of someone because of drunk driving I pray that it is not because of my friend. My heart breaks for the families that have lost loved ones due to the thoughtlessness of someone driving drunk. One of my professor's in the Campbell University Divinity School, lost a daughter, and battled through very severe injuries himself, as a result of a drunk driving accident before lunchtime!
I have read his family's story and my heart broke over and over again at all that he and his wife had to go through.

I do not live in Asheboro any more and thus can not participate in the vote. However, if I did live in Asheboro - I would vote with a resounding NO. If people in Asheboro want alcohol they can drive just about anywhere outside the city limits to purchase it. But once alcohol, as a product to be sold, is in Asheboro - it will probably be there to stay. What will Asheboro gain? More alcoholics. More drunk driving arrests. More deaths and injuries from drunk driving. More families being torn apart. More abusive situations. The list could go on and on. And what if Asheboro grows some economically? Would the economic growth be worth that lost life or destroyed family? I certainly don't think so.