So today is National Edge Day.
Obviously this isn’t a thing to be taken incredibly serious. It, like so many things tied to punk and hardcore, is a bit tongue and cheek. However, I think it is useful for those of use who choose to use the term “straight edge” to conveniently sum up our pro-active abstinence from drugs and alcohol to assess what exactly our association with the term means.
On a weekly basis it’s made clear to me that the adults around me (friends, family, co-workers) really seem to be under the misconception that my connection to the term straight edge stems from some sophomorically romanticized commitment to an idea commonly deemed irrelevant once you reach age 21. It seems to me that the unspoken consensus is that “straight edge” is some sort of private joke between me and those close to me. The overarching attitude is “haha, straight edge, right (wink wink)”. My friends joke about taking my one-year-old son out to his first beer and about the day when they’ll finally share a fine whiskey with me as if all this nonsense about a commitment to sobriety is in good fun but I’ll get over it one day. It is as if I’m sober and utilize the term “straight edge” for no other reason than that I like being quirky and different and I’ll grow out of it soon enough.
Well, let me take this “National Edge Day” to go ahead and clarify some things.
Straight Edge does not define me as a person. I’m a Christian, husband, father, and writer well before I get down the list to Straight Edge. That being said, I’m also the direct descendant of people who have and do struggle with substance abuse. I look like and have the mannerisms of men who have done awful things while locked in the chains of addiction. For me to have witnessed the hurt and injustice heralded and catalyzed by substance abuse and not react is morally reprehensible. Because of this, I take my sobriety not as a personal quirk, but as a responsibility to my family and friends. There is NO evidence that would lead me to believe that drinking alcohol or smoking cigars or whatever mild vice you could come up with would make me a better person. For all intents and purposes they would VERY likely degrade my character even further than what my loose tongue and fast temper have already degraded it.
My son, Cash, is dually obliged to pursue sobriety, as he is under the pressure of dangerous substance abuse on BOTH sides of his family. What may be a rite of passage or uncomplicated recreation to some may be more destructive for him. So if I celebrate my sobriety today, or any other day, I celebrate it for him and hope to one day celebrate it with him. If it’s wrong for me to look around at all the mistakes I’ve seen friends and family make while intoxicated and wish better for my boy, then I stand firmly in the wrong.
However, between last Edge Day and this one, I have learned something important about people who drink. If you drink in moderation, I celebrate you today as well. Continue to do this, and bring redemption to a corrupt bar culture that tells us “You worked hard all week. Now indulge in excess and make some bad decisions, you’ve earned it.”
In summation:
Happy Edge Day to my son, Cash and Happy Edge Day to those who are not Straight Edge, but are responsible and reasonable all the same.
“I’m a person, just like you, but I’ve got better things to do.”
-Minor Threat “Straight Edge”
