[Dixielandjazz] What we lack

[pat ladd]

rouble with the law if you organize one and something goes wrong.  Lots of 
drugs at these things.>>

Hi Larry,

I said we had the best of times. There was no drug scene then. Mainly 
because there were no pushers at the school gates. I must admit that in my 
teens I had read Huxleys `Doors of Perception` and `Heaven and Hell` and if 
I could have got hold of some mescalin I would have tried it. Where could 
you get drugs in 1948 in England? maybe in the big cities or ports but 
cetainly not in a small country town in deepest Wiltshire.

There were plenty of organisations which would run dances. The Young 
Conservatives, the Labour Party, the Liberals, the Round Table, the Young 
Farmers plus several church and village halls.  There was rarely any 
trouble. I think our attitude to drinking was different. We certainly got 
drunk, 8 or 10 pints will do that but we went out with the idea of having an 
evening out. Getting drunk was a by product.  Now the idea seems to be to 
get absolutely smashed as quickly as possible by mixing your drinks, 
something we hardly ever did, then being sick, falling down and starting 
over again.
In my time no girl would go home with a drunk boy and that tended to keep 
ones head clear (ish).

We get raves. Usually takes place in a barn on an isolated farm. The farmer 
takes a back hander and goes away for the weekend and is suitably horrified 
when he finds out what has happenned in his absence.  The word spreads by 
cell phone, the venue is often changed at the last minute in case the police 
have got onto it, and there is much drinking and lots of drugs.  Luckily my 
girls were nearing school leaving age when the drugs really caught on so I 
missed all that trauma as well.  I should be surprised if they have not 
tried it  and a bit disappointed too. I think they both had enough backbone 
to give it a whirl and then reject it.

I don`t think that groups banding together to get a gig closed down would 
work here. Certainly I have never heard of it, and the police don`t work in 
that way either. At least I sincerely hope not. Hanging around a pub at 
closing time to see if there is any drunk driving is about as far as it 
goes. They are not allowed to stop you unless you are driving erratically or 
have something wrong with your car. Busted rearlight is favourite, but NO 
RANDOM CHECKS.  Not yet anyway.

As I said.  We had the best.

Pat