AlcoFreeFeb

My friend and I were approached by the 'head' of SADD (South Africans Against Drunk Driving). She asked us if we would assist her in setting up a campaign whereby people give up alcohol for the month of February. AlcoFreeFeb. We were psyched! The thought of being part of making a campaign, and making it work, thrilled us. So naturally we were excited to tell all our friends about it...

"haha, no ways Feb is O-week"

"I'll pay, you know, to support you guys, but I'm not giving up for a month"

"Are these kids crazy. Give up drinking for a month! Why would I want to do that... dont give me the healthy speech either cause I do a shit load more exercise then most"


"Pay money not to drink thats about as crazy as pregnant chicks, no jokes they're crazy"

"Why Feb????? I'll own up in advance and say that i'll probably slip up on Valentines Day and Luke's 21st. sorry :("

"i love my alchohol 2 much!"

Those were just some of the comments we got (in person and via Facebook statuses from friends). So naturally we felt despondent. These comments were all before we even fully launched our campaign. So we decided to speak to our lady in charge, and explain how we felt it may not work, and that maybe we should do March instead (by the way,we were trying to get this off the ground a week before Feb started...ie not much time!). This change of original plans didnt work in our favour, and we found ourselves sending emails til they were coming out of ears, phoning newspapers and things like the SABC (who I never thought I would ever phone!).

Then it got somewhat exciting... we were having photos taken for Newspapers (The Witess, Cape Times, PE Herald, Daily News, Mirror, The Sun), doing radio interviews (k not on ECR or 5FM, but SAFM and some other, haha, random stations). We were being mentioned in people's blogs (Thanks Jamie Who) and people (k only 1 girl at Varsity) were recognising us! It became and has become our claim to fame, and we were psyched again.

We got a better response than we were anticipating (considering the negativity at the beginning), but even though people expressed interest, many didnt sign up, or said they would participate, but then didnt. However, certain people have been such troopers, and amazing support. My dad for example. K, now before you say that dads are meant to support their kids, and they dont count, let me explain. My dad hasnt gone a day without beer since he was about 18 (He is now 51). He doesnt have an alcohol problem in the slightest, and has only been intoxicated a few times that I'm aware of. He enjoys the taste of beer, and it is his drink of choice when many others would choose Fanta to quench their thirst.

My dad, the beer guru, has agreed to give up alcohol and participate in the 10 Day Challenge. When my mom was making tea yesterday (she has also agreed to give up, but it's not as big a feat as my dad giving up), she offered my dad and he accepted. I thought he was feeling ill (I didnt realise he had been serious about giving it up), and then laughed when she asked me to give him his tea. But he is serious...he is giving up alcohol for 10 days, for the first time in about 32 years! If my dad can do it, I think anybody can do it. And this isn't because he is addicted, it's because he is a stubborn Irish man!

Similarly, Jamie - I'm assuming this is his/her name, wrote a blog about us on their Jamie Who blog. Jamie provided a link to our site, and made a donation of R560 (for a month of SpecialBreaks, in case he/she wanted to drink). We dont even know this person, yet they were so taken by our cause and willing to help.

So we've had my dad and family, my friend's family, JamieWho, some people we dont know, teachers and some of our friends participating. It made me wonder though, why our closest friends were so reluctant to join. Is it because they are students, and drinking is part of their day-to-day existence? Were they reluctant to pay the money? Did they not support the cause? And why is it that 'random' people like JamieWho and radio personalities were willing to support it? Is it that hard for students to give up alcohol for even 10 Days? Or even for friends and family to give it up, even if it's just in support of us.

Maybe I'm expecting too much, but I know that I would certainly support somebody I know on a venture like this.