Patrick

A quiet Sunday evening finds the Buttler family sitting at a table in a cozy starbucks. They sip their drinks and talk about their week, fondly recall past memories and joke about the funny things that have happened to them. The line at the counter start to diminish and the store slowly begins to empty, but Patrick Buttler and his family are still there enjoying their evening together.           

            Patrick Buttler, a senior from Virginia Beach, looks like your average teen. He has dark shaggy hair, and a charismatic smile. He goes to school, hangs out with his friends, drinks, and goes to parties. He is also really fond of his family. “We’re really close,” he says,” We eat dinner together almost every night.” If you listen closely you’ll notice that Patrick has a slight accent. That is because he grew up in Germany.

            Living in Germany has given Patrick some unique views. He says that he likes Germany better because, “Parents in Germany aren’t as overprotective as they are in America. The culture is a lot different. In Germany they trust kids with responsibility at a young age.“ That’s evident in Germany’s minimum drinking age, sixteen for beer and wine and eighteen for hard liquor. When asked about America’s minimum drinking age Patrick states, “It’s too old. Drinking in America is different than drinking in Europe. In America kids drink just to get wasted. In Europe since you aren’t limited to alcohol when you’re a teen, you’re more responsible. I appreciate alcohol more because I grew up with it.” On some nights after an enjoyable dinner with their family, Patrick and his father will sit down to a couple of shots of whisky. He’s a responsible drinker. He says, “If you get drunk too often it’s bad, but every once in a while it’s okay.” When asked if he would ever drink and drive he states, “Never. I’d just ride my bike home. Drinking and driving isn’t a problem in Germany because the public transportation is so good.”

At this point it’s pretty obvious that Patrick is not Mormon, but interestingly enough one of his best friends is. Laurra Sperry is a senior who goes to the same school as Patrick. She and her family are LDS and are very close to Patrick. “My favorite memory of us,” Laurra recounts,” is when we went to Barnes and Noble with my mom. We went to the picture book section and read picture books for a while. I probably liked it because it was nice spending time with him and I also liked hearing his accent when he said certain words.” When asked about Patrick’s general character Laurra says fondly, “He won't judge people for what he sees. He always gives them the benefit of the doubt and says, ‘Well maybe this…’ or ‘maybe they did that because…’ He always thinks situations through clearly before assuming anything about anyone.” Obviously Laurra is very fond of Patrick, but she can also get upset at him. Through the interview Laurra would often interrupt to chastise Patrick about his drinking habits. Patrick would just chuckle and shrug it off.

Although Patrick is not LDS he does have standards. When asked about moral standards he seemed a little confused, probably because “moral standards” is a common Mormon term but not a very common term to others not of our faith. Eventually he said, “Well, if there’s an older person that gets on a bus I’ll give up my chair to them, or if some one is carrying something heavy I’ll help them.” Laurra explains further, “He has very good public manners. He will always hold the door for a girl or give guests his bed. He never lets a woman pay for her own meal. He also takes the needs of other people before his. He is just a very considerate person all around.”

His exceptional manners are evident in the way he speaks. When speaking about God he was not disrespectful in any way, even though he is agnostic. He explains, “I can’t say there is a God because I’ve never had any physical proof of him.” He has read the Bible and assumes there is some truth to it, but is not entirely sold because of the many manuscripts that portray Christ differently. Not believing in God usually leads to concerns about the afterlife. Patrick states very seriously, “I think everything has to have a beginning and an end. Death is the end. There’s nothing after that.” He explains he came to this realization when a good friend of his died. He said, “After that I accepted that I would never see or talk to him again.”

Despite his youth, Patrick is a very mature young man. More than anything he enjoys being together with friends and family. His family always has an open place in their home for guests, and on many evenings you can find them gathered in the kitchen with Laurra, eating, chatting, and generally enjoying life.