The other night a friend called my cell and I missed his call, when I returned a few minutes to check my voicemail he was obviously drunk on the message. The icing on the cake was when he started yelling about not having to turn on his turn signal to drive on the curb. Now at this point I'm incredibly worried about him and if he even made it home so I call him back. He's made it home but this is not the first time or the last time that he has driven drunk. He makes it a regulary habit when he goes out and drinks.
Now I think people like him are despicable-except not he's one of my best friends. There are few things that anger me more than somebody getting in a car and driving after they've had too much to drink. I'm feeling incredibly conflicted about him, I love him we've been friends for a long time but he wont listen to anybody. I've talked to him a million times about it, he's going to get himself killed and most likely take somebody with him.
Now I live in Colorado and the state just poured a whole lot of money into drunk driving "crack downs" they're calling them. There are signs all over the highway pleading with people to drive sober, and even a huge ad campaign on all the local channels showing people getting pulled over at numerous DUI checkpoints. Now the thing is I drive a lot, especially on our major highways through the Denver metro area and I live on a pretty busy road but I've never seen a checkpoint. I've never seen any of these crack downs take place, but I wish they would.
I have another good friend from Minnesota who also drove drunk fairly regularly and he eventually did get pulled over and now he doesn't have a license he's just got a big fat DUI on his record. Even though these people are my friends and I wish nothing but the best for them. Or maybe it is because I wish nothing but the best for them that I want them to get pulled over and I want them to learn something about it and hopefully never do it again. I'm terrified that the next time I get a drunk dial it wont end with that check up phone call saying "did you get home okay?" and then a drunken slur of yes and then pass out.
Don't get me wrong I drink I don't have a problem with people who do drink I have a problem with people who drink and drive-friend or not.
There is nothing that angers me more than people that drink and drive. About 3 weeks ago, 3 people (adults) that I went to school with were in a bad car accident. They had been drinking and thought it would be a blast to hop in the car and act like morons. Their bright idea resulted in the car accident; one sustained minor injuries, another spent a while in the hospital; they still don't know if the third is going to survive. Apparently, we are supposed to feel sorry for those who make these decisions that result in tragedy. Sorry but, friend or not, I have no sympathy for someone ignorant enough to get in the car and endanger not only themselves but everyone else on the road when drunk. If one wants to drink, one needs to be responsible about it or one shouldn't have the freedom to drink.
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~Fallon~
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
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I agree wholeheartedly. Do drunk people not have friends to take them home? This is getting ridiculous. I'll admit I was in a situation like this once, but it wasn't very pleasant. I was with my friends and two other guys (all drunk) and we were stone-faced trying to help her get home and watch out to see if she was wavering over the line or not. I was fifteen and EXTREMELY stupid and it was the middle of the night, but NO excuses. The next day I prayed for about fifteen hours for getting us all home safe!
I will never, ever put myself in that situation again, even if I have to sober up under a bush and then drive myself home the next day!
but we need to change them and obviously the usual things, beating reason in thier head is not working
so what do we do
just leave them to their own ways and wait for something bad to teach them, i mean i want to know too, how to change people who have no fear and keep doing stupid hist like this over and over again, just because something hasn't happened to them
what, are they immortal? AH, frustrating
i wisht i had something more to add and contribute
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right."
Personally, I think we make it too easy for them to continue the behavior. It's far, far too common to have someone wrack up 8,9+ DUI's before ever having to face any serious consequences. That needs to change. First DUI should be mandatory 1 year suspension of license and rehab; second DUI should result in mandatory jail time; third strike and you go to prison for at least 10 years and never get a license again. If we can send someone to prison for smoking crack and sitting at home, we should damn sure be sending them to prison for drinking and driving.
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~Fallon~
"Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something." Henry David Thoreau
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that these people take their life, others life and the law all as a joke
thking that they are above it all and nothing would ever happen to them and DUI are not a big deal for them, it seems
"Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right."
I don't agree with the third strike necessarily, but first and second are perfect. Third strike: never drive legally again. We have an unbalance of the severity of certain laws in this country and we need to fix that--but on the state level that could take a while.