The lessons of Otis

Since the spring of 1983, it's been difficult for me to watch "The Andy Griffith Show," one of the most beloved of all television sitcoms (1960-1968). It runs continuously on TV. There is even a bible study based upon several of the episodes, one of which, entitled "Man in a Hurry," (1963) is a splendid example of taking the Christian Sabbath seriously. A businessman on his way to Raleigh for an important meeting has his car break down in Mayberry on a Sunday. He can't get anybody to fix it -- not for any amount of money. It's the Sabbath and nobody works on the Lord's day in the show's fictional hamlet. I'm sorry, Mr. Businessman, but your car won't be fixed until Monday morning. That episode would be recommended to anyone.

I'm not saying I won't watch the show. It's just hard sometimes. Explanation is needed and is forthcoming.

The endearing story of a widower small-town sheriff, his young son, and his bumbling deputy was a calming balm for Americans during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the assassination of President Kennedy. Everything always turned out OK in Mayberry, North Carolina.

Yes, agreed, but. But there was one recurring character presented as loveable and harmless who, when he comes on the screen, I'll reach for the remote and press "power off."

Otis, the town drunk, regularly comes into the Mayberry jail, and lets himself into one of the cells. He's there to sleep off his intoxication. He's never locked in and Sheriff Taylor and Deputy Fife behave as good-hearted and benevolent guards.

There's never a real attempt by Andy or Barney to try to persuade Otis to choose sobriety; nowhere in the show does the law force him into rehab. Those options would ruin the amusing nature of Otis' character. The laugh track runs loud and often during Otis' stumbles and his slurring of speech. Some years later, an actor named Foster Brooks made a very nice living by portraying a belching alcoholic. Ha ha. Very funny.

I suppose this author will be viewed as a killjoy, even as a prude, to some readers. Several of my social media friends regularly tout their desire for drink and their occasional inebriation. Besides, someone might argue, didn't Jesus drink wine? Indeed, the Gospels record, he did.

Look, Otis seemed funny to me too. That is until a certain day in May 1983. My wife and I were getting ready to go to first cousin Eddie's nuptials. I was upstairs, ironing a new white dress shirt that would make its debut at the blessed event. The hall tree we had purchased as a wedding gift was wrapped and lying on the coffee table. A family member called during this preparation to say that Eddie had been killed the night before by a drunk driver after the rehearsal dinner. His bride was awoken the next morning to be told there would be no marriage, no life together with Eddie.

The wedding cake didn't get picked up. The inscribed napkins for the reception were quietly thrown away. Family assembled not in joy but in sorrow. All the usual rituals were followed. Mourners approached Eddie's mother and said all the banal things -- because one has to say something.

We used that hall tree for decades, throwing it away only after it started to fall apart. It was our enduring reminder of the wedding that never happened.

The cruel irony is that the drunk driver, his blood alcohol level well above the legal limit, walked away without a scratch 36 years ago.

Wine and other spirits are not demon's rum. There is nothing inherently evil about alcohol. Alcohol in careless hands, though, is deadly. What is manifestly clear is that so many do not control their consumption and that they fail to secure a designated driver before the revelry begins.

Drink if you choose. But have someone sober drive you home. When Jesus told his followers to "love your neighbor," I like to think concern for other motorists is at least part of what he had in mind.