A few years ago, I was a little drunk, walking along the street, and a police office pulled me aside and gave me a ticket. When I went to court, the judge told me that he would be willing to let me clear my record if I took a class on alcohol addiction and treatment. I couldn’t make the in-person class, but fortunately, thanks to modern technology, there were online alcohol classes that I could take. Although I initially perceived these classes as a distasteful chore, as I went through them I began to become more intrigued by the biological and sociological facts I was learning about this drug that has so permeated our society. Perhaps I found it so interesting because I could do it on my own time; it felt more voluntary, perhaps, than it would have felt had I gone down to the weekly class at the community center. In any case, online alcohol classes really opened my eyes to the dangers of this drug, and although I still take a drink now and then, I try not to overdo it–and I certainly avoid being drunk in public.