"No Laughing Matter" by Chris Shmader in Our Boys Speak edited by John Nikkah

The following excerpt was from "Our Boys Speak" by John Nikkah. Seventeen year old Chris Shmader writes about his friend Abe who has strong morals and is very religious, which is rare for a teenager. He writes how at a group dinner with friends, one tells a story of the time he almost got arrested for underage drinking. While the whole group is laughing, including Chris, he wonders if he should have as he glanced to see Abe shaking his head in disagreement to what his friend had done. It was quite different to see someone so young actually disagree with morals like that as they are the "norms" for teens.