You are at a party and you see one of your friends getting very drunk.
Vous êtes à une soirée et vous voyez un/e de vos amis en train de boire beaucoup trop.
Being a friend, I would coax him/her away from the party.
go over to her, get her, take her outside for awhile to calm down
I can't wait to see what happens later tonight.
I would ask them if they know what they are doing and if they feel fine, and I would keep an eye on them for the rest of the party
I would go talk to them and suggest that they take a break on the drinks.
I would make sure that my friend is safe and taken care of.
I would make sure to keep an eye on them and make sure that they came home with me or with another sober friend.
I would recommend them to stop and take it easy.
I would say, "Hey, take it easy."
I would try to tell my friend not to drink more and keep an eye on my friend for the rest of the party.
if I know him/her well, I would get him/her into the car and drive him/her home.
It depends on the occasion. If the behavior is inappropriate, I would take the friend away from the party.
It depends on the person and the nature of my relationship with them. If it's someone I'm close to, whom I think cannot handle the alcohol, I would advise them to slow down and stay with them to make sure they make wise decisions.
Just keep an eye on them, nothing more.
Monitor their drinking, and provide them with water.
take care of them
J'attends de voir ce qui va se passer
J'essaierais de limiter sa consommation et je le surveillerais.
J'essaye de le raisonner et de le limiter. Je ne m'inquiète pas mais lui interdis de conduire.
Je fais attention à lui, lui dit d'y aller doucement et m'assure qu'il pourra rentrer chez lui sans danger.
Je fais rien.
Je l'accompagne !
Je lui déconseille de prendre la route, mais je ne suis pas là pour juger mes amis.
Je lui enlève son verre et lui confisque ses clés de voiture.
Je lui fais remarquer en rigolant. Après, s'il n'a pas besoin de prendre le volant, je pense que c'est une soirée et que c'est fait pour ça.
Je lui ressers un verre
Je me dis qu'il ou elle a bien le droit de festoyer de cette façon et qu'on sera là pour l'aider si cette personne ne se sent pas bien après ça.
Je me dit qu'il/elle va bien dormir ce soir, et avoir mal à la tête demain.
je ne fais rien (c'est sans doute mon cas aussi)
Je passe le voir régulièrement pour vérifier que tout va bien.
Je prends soin de lui.
Si sa santé n'est pas en danger, je le laisse faire en le surveillant. Sinon je l'arrête.
Discussion
Both cultures are very caring towards their friends, especially when it is a serious situation that needs to be dealt with. However, I find it interesting that the French emphasize drunk driving much more than Americans do. Why is this? Are there many instances of drunk driving in France?
I thought that the French students seemed much more relaxed than the American students. Most American students said that they would tell their friend to slow down or even take their friend away from the party. While the French students also said that they would take care of their friend in that situation, they seemed much less worried. The general opinion seemed to be that as long as that friend was not driving drunk, they had the right to celebrate however they like.
I agree with both opinions from Patricia and Robin. Perhaps the French worry more about the drunk driving than do the Americans because of the drinking age. The fact that it is allowed at a younger age also means that perhaps the person is less experienced in driving or something. However, it is weird that Americans did not mention it, especially because in states where driving is crucial, such as in Texas, drunk driving is strongly looked down on and there are many arrests for that.
In france, are there a lot of car accidents due to drunk driving? Do many people drive or take trains when going out and/or drinking?
En France nous avons un nombre impressionnant de publicités choquantes sur la conduite sous l'emprise de l'alcool. (Par exemple : un jeune a bu 3 verres au lieu de 2, il ramène 3/4 personnes, et bam, un accident, tous meurent sauf le conducteur... avec un beau slogan à la fin).
Avez-vous aussi des publicités "choquantes" du même type?
Le soir, si on est contrôlés par la police, on n'échappe pas à l'éthylotest, et au moindre accident routier, l'alcool est mis en avant par les médias.
@Lilian : Je rejoins ton avis sur la limite d'âge pour boire. Vous pouvez avoir le permis à 16 ans et boire à 21, nous pouvons faire les deux à 18 ans. Du coup il y a eu pas mal d'abus parmis les jeunes, d'où les campagnes choquantes.
En comparant avec le suédoise, il paraît que les français a une attitude beaucoup plus relâchés quand il s'agit de la conduite sous l'emprise de l'alcool. Aucun de mes amis en suède ont jamais conduit après avoir bu, mais je rencontre pas mal de gens ici qui l'ont fait.
Il y a eu de nombreuses campagnes de publicité en France qui ciblent les jeunes conducteurs qui sortent faire la fête et prennent le risque de conduire alcolisé. En effet, pour un étudiant les soirées alcolisées sont monnaie courante, ce qui peut expliquer aussi que les Français fassent preuve de plus de détachement vis à vis de l'ami qui boit trop, tout en restant prudent.
Peut-être qu'aux Etats-Unis, il est au moins courant d'être saoul pendant les sorties étudiantes, mais j'en doute !
It is interesting to note that in France, both drinking and driving are permitted at 18 while here there is a big age gap between both things. I don't understand why in the , people are allowed to drive so young and do other things such as vote, but can't drink a beer to celebrate. Why do you think there is such a difference in the laws?
@Patricia I think one of the better reasons for separating the distance between legally drinking and legally driving is to try to avoid drinking and driving accidents. I think between the two, it's more important to be able to drive yourself places than drink a beer once you get there, so I see why the order is driving first - even if it presents a risk of drinking and driving accidents once you're allowed to drink.
Is there an underage drinking problem in France? @Mathias, those ads do sound shocking - are they effective?
@Lilian
Perhaps another reason the American students did not mention driving is because very few of us have cars at school. I think many MIT students started drinking once they got to college, and it's a bit difficult and annoying to own a car in Boston (expensive parking rates, difficult to drive in the city even when sober..)
@Patricia
I agree, I also think those laws are a bit strange. It's especially strange to me that you can get married and go to war before being legally allowed to drink. Perhaps the difference between the French laws and the American laws can be somewhat explained by the general attitude towards young people in each country. In some of the earlier forums, we discussed American parents being more protective of their children (and seeing them as children), while French parents see their children as mini adults who must be taught about society and the world very early on. Perhaps because of this, the French feel that by age 18 young adults have learned enough to be able to make their own decisions, while it takes longer for Americans to see young adults as real people who don't need protection.
En France, je ferai remarquer que l'âge légal est de 18 ans pour boire, mais qu'il est particulièrement facile de s'en procurer quand on est plus jeune. Quelle est la situation aux états-unis ?
Autre question : y'a-t-il beaucoup de soirées alcoolisées au MIT ?
@Robin: I agree. Being originally from Southern California, where driving is necessary most of the time, seeing a drunk friend at a party can have serious implications. My friends would usually just let their inebriated buddies stay the night when they hosted. Resitricted to being a pedestrian in Boston, participating in shenanigans was a different matter, as I was able to have as much fun as everyone else in a somewhat safer manner. Yet, as a member of a fraternity as well, throwing a social event involves a lot of responsibility especially when looking after guests I likely don't even know. It is a rather serious situation for there to be girl getting very drunk at your party; at that point, we would definitely limit drinks and tell her (less drunk) friends to keep an eye on her.
En lisant les différentes réponses, je me suis rendue comptes que les étudiants américains semblent plus préoccupés par l'état d'ébriété de leurs amis que les étudiants français qui eux, s'inquiètent plus que leurs amis conduisent dans un tel état.
Cette différence de perception peut s'expliquer par le fait qu'en France, les jeunes sont particulièrement sensibilisés à l'alcool au volant et, comme l'a dit Matthias, des spot de prévention particulièrement choquants, où l'on voit par exemple un groupe d'amis périr sur la route après une soirée bien arrosée, sont régulièrement diffusés à la télévision. De plus, comme l'a souligné Lilian, les jeunes américans pouvant conduire bien avant de pouvoir boire légalement, il se peut que l'alcool au volant les concerne moins et qu'ils ne soient pas confrontés au dilemne alcool ou volant autant que les français.