You're pretty much exactly right, straight across the board. Nobody will pay attention until something Bad happens, then it'll get pumped up briefly, then back to business as usual. It's a fairly common problem, and the responses you get are very nearly universal.
My class ('91) drew the short straw. We had, if I recall (it was a moderately large school, and I didn't know them personally), three or four kids die in a car-meets-tree kind of drunk driving accident. A lot of noise was made, but no real lasting change took place other than a few more students not surviving to see graduation and a nice little memorial two page spread in the yearbook that year.
I have an aunt who's been involved in at least two DUI related accidents, and an uncle involved in at least one. The scary part isn't just when they won't listen, but when they keep not listening after whatever dire predictions come to pass.
Frustrated is definitely the place to be. But you have to keep trying, because it's better than the alternative of getting yourself to not care. As you say, they're your friends. You can't stop them from autodarwinating, but you can at least make sure they're aware of what they're doing and your views on the subject.
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Date: 2002-05-21 01:48 pm (UTC)My class ('91) drew the short straw. We had, if I recall (it was a moderately large school, and I didn't know them personally), three or four kids die in a car-meets-tree kind of drunk driving accident. A lot of noise was made, but no real lasting change took place other than a few more students not surviving to see graduation and a nice little memorial two page spread in the yearbook that year.
I have an aunt who's been involved in at least two DUI related accidents, and an uncle involved in at least one. The scary part isn't just when they won't listen, but when they keep not listening after whatever dire predictions come to pass.
Frustrated is definitely the place to be. But you have to keep trying, because it's better than the alternative of getting yourself to not care. As you say, they're your friends. You can't stop them from autodarwinating, but you can at least make sure they're aware of what they're doing and your views on the subject.