U2 fan's first posting on Wire

[email protected]
Sat, 28 Nov 1998 15:23:04 EST

Greetings:
    I am sending my first posting to Wire. I have been on line with Wire for
several months. I am old enough to be Bono's older sister. There are so many
cool things about the band. I was in the Jesus movement in the 70's and feel
a kinship to some of their experiences in the Shalom group. I love some of
the early songs of praise like Gloria and 40. I love their music and my kids
tease me about being a fanatic.
The band is very talented and their music is fantastic. Pop was the first
rock concert that I had been to in many years.

        In regards to all the hullabaloo about whether Bono did or didn't use drugs.
I was a fairly heavy drug user in the early 70's and found that even so called
harmless pot turned my friends into paranoid, boring, unmotivated people. All
it ever did for me was make me promiscuous and hungry. The last time I
remember using pot was the time that I thought that time had stopped. It
turned out that the clock was unplugged. I realized that I couldn't handle
it.

        I now work as a nurse in a drug and alcohol treatment center. Patient's
records are confidential and their names don't even show up on the hospital
computer. I think if this doctor was telling the truth then he's highly
unethical which makes me wonder what he felt like he had to gain by saying
that Bono used Coke. It's amazing how a person who has used alcohol and drugs
over the years ages. By the time a patient is their forties with a history of
abuse, they look like their 10 -15 years older. I see so many patients with
health problems from alcohol and drugs: lots of Hepatitis C, permanent liver
damage, high blood pressure, heart problems. It's not a pretty sight.

        I have been disappointed in reading about the Popmart tour in Propaganda
about the prominence of alcohol at the afterparties. It sounds pretty
childish, to get loaded every night after a concert and then sleep it off.
Maybe I'm being too critical because I enjoy an occasional alcoholic beverage.
It seems to me that could be some alternative ways to party.

        I just love U2 and don't want them to get old before their time. Oh, yes, I
didn't mention young patients with alcohol dementia or fried brains. I hate
the smell of stale alcohol on someone's breath.

        Believe me sobriety can be a beautiful thing. My daughter is celebrating her
first year of sobriety in a few weeks. She's 14.

MJM

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