A few days ago, during a bout of insomnia, I was watching re-runs of “South Park” that are being shown on the WB (or channel 11 in NYC). During this particular episode, the kids discovered a joint in the woods. Because of this, all the parents hired the services of an anti-drug motivational service that…well, it’s much too complicated to explain. What’s important is that at the end of the episode, the parents have a frank talk with the kids about marijuana, and one of the fathers says (paraphrasing):
“Smoking pot won’t necessarilly turn you into a gutter-trash loser, but…well, smoking pot is something to do with being bored. It makes you feel okay with being bored. And when your bored is the time you should be trying new things and discovering new interests. And you don’t want to grow up and look back on your life and realize you never tried anything.”
This struck me as the most succinct, truest anti-drug statement I’ve ever heard. Unfortunately, I can attest that it is right on the money. If somebody told me that when I was 13, my life might’ve turned out very differently. Instead, I was given pamphlets with over-the-top melodramatic scare stories on par with “Reefer Madness.” (one teacher - with a straight-face no less - actually told my 7th grade class the “hippy babysitter” story - and said it as if it was a student he had dealt with!)
But I’m not starting a threat to get your sympathy. What really surprised me was that I heard this bit of wisdom on, of all things, “South Park”! It just struck me as beyond bizarre that “South Park” - a series that snidely celebrates of all things juvenile, vulgar, disgusting & foul - proposed the best argument against smoking pot I’ve ever heard.
I was just wondering if anyone out there has had a similar experience - watching, reading, listening to something you expected to be inocuous or inane at best, but then were surprises you with some truly insightful message?