KA was arrested YEARS ago for a DUI. To hear her tell the story, you'd be in stitches over something that isn't very funny. She used her experience to make people laugh AND to make you aware of the consequences. [Side note: the DUI changed her life - she went from drinking - over drinking - daily, to not drinking at all. To this day, she still doesn't drink and it's been at least 15-20 years.]
The news this morning had a story about how during the holidays DUIs go up. Not too surprising considering the amount of celebrations that go on this time of year. And let's face it, we celebrate with food and drink. There's something about this time of year though, where some tend to let themselves celebrate a little too much.
I was one of those people in the early 2000's.
I was working for a company that I loved (at the time) and it knew how to celebrate. For Christmas one year we all gathered at a bar in downtown Seattle and it was an open bar.
We drank, we ate, we laughed, we drank some more and we watched some folks lose everything they ate. To say we were all hammered would be putting it lightly.
Some folks took cabs home. Some walked home or walked it off. Some fell asleep in their car. Some of us drove home.
I very vividly remember making the decision to drive. This was before Uber and cell phones. I really had no idea how I would get home if I didn't drive. I had convinced myself that I was fine. I wasn't as drunk as the others. I could hold my liquor.
After convincing myself, I turned the key and drove home.
I remember focusing so hard to "stay in my lane". I tried real hard to watch my speed. I stayed in the right hand lane. I focused and focused and focused. I was driving from downtown Seattle to the East side (about 10 miles by freeway) and it was a drive I did every day for years. I felt I knew it by heart.
All the way home, I was saying to myself that I was being an idiot. That I shouldn't be driving and that if I made it home, I'd never EVER do this again.
I made it home. Safely. I didn't hurt myself, my car, or - thank goodness - no one else.
I fell into bed and didn't think about it again that night.
The next day I was riddled with guilt. I couldn't believe I had done that. I couldn't believe how easy it was to convince myself that I could do it. I wasn't that drunk, I'd be fine.
I was lucky that day. Very lucky. And I kept my promise. I have not gotten behind the wheel of a car after drinking more than a glass of wine or a beer or two. Though now that I type that there was this one wine tasting day that we had to have some food before we drove home because we may have been too tipsy to drive. In this case, I really was fine. We took the precaution to have Mexican food to soak up anything left in our system.
If I think about that night, I break out in cold sweats. I was very, very lucky! I know that. I appreciate the fact that I "got away with it". It could have been so much worse. I could have been my friend KA. I could have gotten arrested, spend a night in jail, paid THOUSANDS in fines and attorney's fees, I could have ruined my life or someone else's.
The moral of the story should be pretty clear. Don't drink and drive. You are NOT ok to drive. If you have to ask yourself that question, you are not ok to drive. You can call me and I will come and get you. No matter the time of day or night.
Be safe everyone and have a brilliant holiday season with or without alcohol.
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