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T.R.Y. Test: Personal Evaluation

How much alcohol is too
much? How can you tell if you
may be in danger of developing
a drinking problem?

This questionnaire has been
designed to help’ you take a
realistic look at your drinking
habits. There are many factors
to consider, such as where,
when, how much and how often
you drink. But what happens
when you drink (consequences)
is probably the single most im-
portant thing to think about.
Look at all these factors in rela-

_tion to each other. You'll get a

better picture of your drinking
habits when you see patterns
form.

Answer the TRY TEST per-
sonal evaluation as honestly as
you can. The TRY TEST answer
sheet will help you evaluate your
responses. If a friend or family
member’s drinking is affecting
you, this questionnaire can be
used to examine the impact of
their drinking habits, ie: ‘‘Does
my spouse ever lose time from
work due to his/her drinking??’

This page is supported by:

Kermode Friendship Centre

in recognition of Drug & Alcohol Awareness Week .

1. Do you ever lose time from
work or school due to drinking?
[J] Yes f[] No

2. Do your friends or family ever
comment on your drinking, or
the effect it is having on them?
[] Yes []No

3. Has your reputation ever suf-’

fered because of your drinking?
[] Yes [] No

4. Do you ever feel guilty about
your drinking, or the effects of
your drinking?
[] Yes [] No

5. Have you ever suffered any
financial difficulties as a result
of your drinking?

[] Yes [] No

6. Are your preferred friends
heavy drinkers?
[] Yes [] No

7. Do you eat lightly or skip
meals to enhance the effects of
alcohol?

{] Yes [] No

8. Has your general ambition
decreased due to your drinking?
{] Yes [] No

~

9. Is it difficult for you to
predict with any consistency
how much you will drink and
how it will affect you?

[] Yes [] No

10. Is it possible that drinking
may be disrupting your normal
sleep patterns?
{] Yes [] No

11. Has there been a reduction in
your efficiency, or an increase in
the times you have been late or
absent from work or school
since you began drinking?

{} Yes [] No

12. Do you find yourself drink-
ing alone more often?
[] Yes [] No

13. Have you ever experienced a
period of memory loss or fuzzy
memory as a result of your
drinking?

[] Yes [] No

14. Has medical treatment or
hospitalization ever been

necessitated by your drinking?
[1] Yes [{]No

15. Do you see drinking as a way

Tragedy acts as a reminder

by Const. Dale Martel

This is an open letier to all
parents of young people
everywhere. I am writing in
response to some of the ques-
tions you ask me daily. I am not

- just one police officer, but I

represent every officer in every
city and town in Canada.

You may know me only as the
cop who gave you a ticket last
summer, but I am also the guy
who lives down the street from
you. I am-the parent of three
children and I share with you the
same hopes, ambitions,. and
dreams that you have for your
children. I am faced with the
same problems you have. I share
with you those moments of
agony and ecstasy. I share with
you the feeling of guilt, shame,
or disappointment when my boy
or girl gets into trouble.

The scene is a long stretch of
highway with a sharp curve af
one end. It has been raining and
the roads are slick. A car travel-
ing in excess of 126 kilometres

per hour misses the curve and.

ploughs into an embankment
where it becomes airborne and
strikes a tree. At this point, two
of the three young persons are
hurled from the vehicle, one into

_ the roadway, where the car lands

on him, snuffing out his life like
a discarded cigarette on the
asphalt. He is killed instantly
and he is the lucky one.

The girl thrown into the tree

has her neck broken and
although she was voted queen of
the senior prom, and most likely

to succeed, she will now spend -

the next 60 years in a wheelchair.

Unable to do anything else,
she will live and relive that terri-
ble moment over again many
times. When J arrive, the car has
come to rest on its top, the
broken wheels have stopped
spinning. Smoke and steam pour
out of the engine ripped from its
mounting by the terrible force.
An eerie calm has settled over
the scene and it appears deserted
except for one lone traveller who
called it in,

He is sick to his stomach,
leaning against his car for sup-
port. The driver, of the over-
turned car, is conscious but in
shock and is unable to free
himself from under the bent
steering column. His face will be
forever scarred by deep cuts
from broken glass and jagged
metal. Those cuts will heal, but
the ones inside cannot be touch-
ed by the surgeon’s scalpel.

The third passenger has
almost stopped bleeding, the
seat and his clothing are covered
in blood from an artery cut in
his arms by the broken bone that
protrudes from his forearm just
below the elbow.. His breath
comes in short gasps as he tries
desperately to suck air past his
blood-filled airway. He is unable
to speak and his eyes, bulged,

fixed on mé pleadingly, are the © |

only communicatiotis that Te‘ is
terrified and wants my help. I

feel a pang of guilt and
recognize-him as a boy I let off
with a warning the other night

for an open container of alcohol

in his car.

Maybe if I had cited him, then
he wouldn’t be here now. Who
knows? I don't.

He died soundlessly in my
arms, his pale blue eyes staring
vacantly, as if trying to see into
the future he will never have. I
remember watching him play
basketball and wonder what will
happen to the scholarship he wil]
never use. Dully, my mind
focuses on a loud scream and I
identify it as the girl who was
thrown from the vehicle. I race
to her with a blanket, but I am
afraid to move her.

Her head is tilted at an exag-
gerated angle. She seems
unaware of my presence there
and whimpers for her mother
like a little child, In the distance,

_[hear the ambulance whining its

way through the rainy night. I
am filled with incredible grief at
the waste of.so valuable a

resource, our youth.

I am sick with anger and
frustration with parents and
leaders who think a little alcohol
won’t hurt anything. I am filled
with contempt for people who
propose lowering the drinking

_ age with the rationale that they

This page is supported by:

Terrace Builders Centre Ltd.

in recognition of Drug & Alcohol Awareness Week

Wednesday, November 7, 1990 — A Supplement to the Terrace Review

to combat shyness, to build up
self-confidence, or to escape

from worries,
boredom?
[] Yes [] No

stress or

16. Have you ever used a
*‘morning eye-opener’’ to steady
your nerves or to get rid of a
hangover?

{] Yes [] No

17. Can you drink more than
you used to without feeling the
effects?

{] Yes [] No

18. Have you ever been arrested
for driving under the influence?
{] Yes [] No

19. Have you ever felt that you
should cut down on your drink-
ing?

{] Yes [] No

4
: &

will get booze anyway, so why

not make it legal? Y am
frustrated with laws, court rul-
ings and other-legal manoeuver-
ings that restrict my ability to do
my job, preventing this kind of
tragedy.

_ The ambulance begins the job
of scraping up and removing the
dead and injured. I stand by,
watching as hot tears mingle
with rain and drip off my
cheeks.

I will spend several hours on
reports and several months try-
ing to erase from my memory
the details of that night. I will
not be alone. The driver will
recover and spend the rest of his
life trying. to forget. I know the
memory of this fatal accident
will be diluted and mixed with
other similar accidents I will be
called in to cover.

Yes, I am angry and sick at
heart with trying to do my job
and being tagged the bad guy. I
pray to God that I might never
have to face another parent in
the night and say your daughter,
Susan, or your son, Bill, has just

been killed in a car accident.
You ask me, why did this hap-
pen? It happened because a
young person, stoned out of his
mind, thought he could handle
two tons of hurtling death at 128
kilometres per hour. It happen-
ed because an adult, trying to be
a ‘‘good guy’’ bought for or sold
to some minor, a case of beer.
It happened because you as
parents weren’t concerned
enough about your child to
know where he was and what he
was doing. You were unconcern-
ed about minors and alcohol
abuse and would rather blame
me for harassing them when I
was ony trying to prevent this
kind of tragedy. It happenéd
because, as people say, you
believe this kind of thing only
happens to someone else. ;
For your sake, I hope it
doesn’t happen to you, but if
you continue to regard alcohol
abuse as part of growing up,
then please keep your porch
light on because some cold,
rainy night, you will find me at
your doorstep, staring at my feet
with a message of death for you.

y

TERRACE
BUILDERS
CENTRE