It is that time of the year again where families travel near and far to be close with family and friends to celebrate Christmas and the holidays.
And with those celebrations often come libations with alcohol, along with those baked goodies or Christmas turkey.
Alcohol seems to go hand in hand with many people’s fun holiday festivities and if done properly in moderation, can add to the experience.
Maybe it’ll help you loosen your collar a bit, and hit the dance floor during the office party, or form a bridge to break down the gap from a distant relative to start up a conversation with a nice scotch.
But inversely, alcohol can subtract from the holiday experience as well, if not done responsibly.
Those subtractions far outweigh any of the pluses of doing the Chicken Dance at the office Christmas party, or spirited sports discussion involving World Junior Hockey Championships, fueled by your libation of choice.
Indulging too much in spirits without enough preplanning can bring your spirits down. Your very livelihood could be taken away from you if your driving privileges are stripped from you through a drunk-driving charge. Or worse yet, your life itself, that of a loved one in your vehicle or a life of a complete stranger who happened to be in your path that fateful night when you decided to drive in your selfish drunken state.
This is not a guilt trip espousing the evils of alcohol, this is about manning up in taking on the responsibility of the maturity handling the effects alcohol will have on you if you indulge too much.
If you know you will be drinking liberally, hitch a ride with a friend or family member who won’t be. Given the close proximity many Taber residents are to their local watering hole, a cheap cab ride is just  a quick phone call away to ensure you and others out on the road that night get home safe.
Worried you may be hovering around that danger line with intoxication?  Bundle up and get those walking shoes out. Barring wind chill of -40 Celsius out there on a cold wintery night, many Taberites are a mere 15-minute brisk walk away from home from various establishments they may be consuming alcohol at. A little exercise never hurt anyone, just leave yourself enough time to wake up earlier in the morning walking or cabbing back to pick up your car if you need it for work.
Going to a house party? Hosts, if they care,  should prepare their place, looking like a flop house where it’s sofa city for guests who have had too much to drink for an overnight stay.
If Lethbridge is where you are wanting to have a holiday night out, book a motel room there or crash at a friend’s place and utilize a car service like Operation Red Nose.
If enough people are going, a cab ride from Taber to Lethbridge split four to eight ways is certainly affordable back and forth.
For those who say some of those options out there are too costly, then you do not have enough money to be wasting it on alcohol anyway. And besides, the cost could be far graver in the long run with sacrificed human life, than simply being  a little lighter in the wallet for a given week.
In short, there is simply no excuses anymore for people to be drunk driving out there. There are too many options out there where just a few minutes of pre-planning can assure a safe ride or walk home for the holidays when too much alcohol has been consumed.
Even police agencies will tell you, they are not saying you should not drink, just drink responsibly.
With the the new .05 legislation, it ensures that we have to be even more vigilant.
We have so many responsibilities in our lives as adults and when it comes to drinking and driving, then is not the time to act like a child.
Taking on the responsibility of drinking responsibly during the holiday season is one of the greatest gifts you can give this Christmas. It is a gift showing you truly care about yourself and the people around you.