Drunk Driving

I read a news article that a police officer killed two people while driving drunk. You would have thought he would have had more sense. Of course, the first thing to go when you get drunk is common sense. Some people don’t have much of it to start with. The second thing to go when you are drunk is your judgment. On those reality shows where they show clips of people making utter fools of themselves, alcohol is usually involved. Most of those people insist that they aren’t drunk, even as they forget the order of the alphabet. Some of them are too drunk to stand and insist that they are sober. Drinking and driving don’t mix.

Now I’m not talking about one or two beers and then you drive home. I’m talking about one or two six packs of beer or even several cocktails of the harder stuff. Then your blood alcohol level reaches the legal limit and you end up in jail. There is no such thing as a lovable drunk. That’s a myth. The drunken man on Mayberry wasn’t real. The Hangover movie’s portrayal of mayhem is closer, but still not real. Reality is much different.

Some people become silly when they drink too much. Others become road hazards. Still others become homicidal, through their driving while under the influence of alcohol (or drugs) or just by being a mean drunk. There are some of those – mean drunks. People who hit their loved ones while drunk and swear they are sorry, they were drunk, and it won’t happen again. It always does. If you must get blind drunk, do it at home. Do it when you are alone, so that no one else gets hurt. The problem is that many alcoholics think they can go out and have one drink and one drink only. They can’t. Until they accept that, they are going to stay alcoholics.

It all rests with them. If they don’t accept that they can’t drink anything alcoholic in nature, they will never get sober and stay sober. No one can do it for them either. Court ordered sobriety doesn’t work for that reason. The affected person (or drunk, if you will) has to be the one to make the decision not to drink. The law could and should only go so far. The rest is up to the individual.

Part of the trouble is that we, as a society, glamorize drinking. Drunks are seen as comedic – witness the Hangover movies. Those drunks got into a lot during those movies and we laugh. Even the reality shows portray drunken behavior as comedy. Reality is different. Drunken people vomit in inappropriate places causing others to clean up after them. That’s the least of it. Drunk drivers have killed innocent people. Drinking is ok. You just have to know what time to stop and to stop when that time comes. If you can’t – don’t take even one drink. Use your judgment before taking your first drink and you won’t lose it. it’s as simple, and as hard as that.

About pebblepup

I am not one who is comfortable talking about myself but here goes. I enjoy writing, family history, and reading. I decided to do this blog because I wanted to try something new. I decided to make it a weekly blog because I wasn't sure that I could keep up with a daily one, and monthly seemed like I was writing a magazine. I think I did ok with my choices. You'll notice that there are not a lot of graphics on my site. That's because there are graphics plastered everywhere on the Internet and those sites sometimes take forever to load. This blog is a place where you can kick back, relax and be ready to be amused. At least I hope I willbamuse you. This blog is on a variety of subjects from my ficitional cat agency, the FFL, which is monthly, to instructional blogs to editorials, which are my opinions only. I admit that I don't know everything and could be wrong -- I frequently am. Now, stop reading about me and read what I have to say!