Drinking, Disappearing and . . .Dying?

A twenty-year-old Oak Brook college student went missing after drinking at a Chicago nightclub Saturday night. Media reports say Katie O'Connell reportedly felt "tired" early Sunday morning and left her own birthday celebration at the club, got into a cab alone, and disappeared.

Stories like this aren't unique. This gal reappeared. More often, the case ends tragically.

Heads up people! Drinking doesn't have to make you dead.

Think ahead. In any group, for any kind of celebration, two rules apply: somebody stays sober and friends never abandon their friends.

No matter how much it pains you to leave when one of your buddies doesn't want to keep partying, deal with it. Put down your booze and go with them. Especially if they are "tired." Date rape drugs are designed to make you sleepy. Then you pass out. If the wrong person is with you when you lose consciousness, bad stuff happens. And that "wrong person" can be the hottest dude or chick you and your friends have ever seen.

Good looking predators stalk even the upscale nightclubs targeting the vulnerable of both sexes. The more you drink, and the less you pay attention when someone buys you a drink, the more likely you will become a victim. Drunks are easy to control.

One sober person in a group of drinking friends can save a life.

If you must take a cab after you've been drinking, particularly if you're alone, note the cab number and the driver's name and text or phone the information to your friends. Make sure the driver knows that's what you've done. If you must put someone who has had too much to drink in a cab by themselves, take the information yourself. Say to the driver, "We are looking out for our friend." If the person is going home to roommates or parents, call ahead. Make sure you know when your friend gets there.

Looks now like this girl was shacked up with a boyfriend or something similar. Good for her. Bad for those who love her. Daddy should take away her credit cards and send her to bed without dinner.

No doubt she will do it all over again next month...