Straight Edge

Okay, I know that there's many straight edge pages on the web and I'm sure you've heard it all before, but you might as well hear it again.
If you haven't a clue what I'm talking about, please read on.


Straight Edge: when a person does not do drugs, drink, or smoke, and does not engage in promiscuous sex.
Many straightedgers also do not eat meat and many are vegan (no products that use animals in any way, including leather and down as well as eggs and milk).
However, it needs to be understood that vegetarianism and veganism is not part of the straight edge "definition", though many people include animal products on the list of things they do not want in their bodies. The no substances part is pretty easy to understand... the sex part is where most people become confused. It's not that we cannot have sex ever, or even only for procreational purposes. It just means that we will not engage in any one night stands or any other activity that puts us at risk...

Being straight edge is a very personal choice. It really has nothing to do with hardcore, the two just travel side by side a lot. Straight edge is a lifestyle, a frame of mind, a choice about one's body. It is not a group that you join to be hip. It is something you have to think about and have to stick to. Becoming straight edge is a choice for life, not just for the moment, not just while it sounds cool, or while you're around a bunch of straight edge kids. It's a lifestyle choice that means you still won't be drinking a beer after work when you're 40, and you'll have to toast with water at weddings instead of champagne... even if it's your own wedding and I mean that.

If you're one of those kids that walks around talking about how you are straight edge but then home alone you down a six-pack, or you are choosing to have the edge 'while it's cool' well you're basically a weak idiot and I don't know what the hell to say to you.

I have been claiming straight edge since November of 1995, but I have always been drug-free and am proud to admit that. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I have no "curiosity" about drugs and alcohol just because I haven't done much of anything. I don't need to feel what it does, I've seen what it does and I think it's wrong. Plain and simple.

Let me just say that personally I don't care whether my friends are sxe or not. I may not want to go out and watch someone drink, but it's a personal choice whether one wants to be clean of drugs or not. I'm not going to dislike someone based soley upon the fact that they make different choices than I do.

Being straight edge and in the hardcore scene is how I plan to be forever... I have never found another place where I felt like I belonged or really even gave a damn until I found hardcore. I'm sure many of you agree with me... I just hope everyone can hold on their "vision" of how they want to be, even after the passage of time... often people 'grow up' and change all they believe in but if growing up means following along mindlessly with what 'they' tell you to do and to think... I'll just be 'a kid' forever I guess.

Thanks for readin' my thoughts... please send me mail if you have any questions, comments, or concerns... here!