DUI — An Unnecessary and Avoidable Night
I thank God every single day that I got one. Driving is a privilege, not a right. It has been 10 years since I had my DUI.
Our entire department had recently been laid off, I was at a bar and spotted my ex-fiancé with his new girlfriend, and I hadn’t eaten all day. This was back when I was drinking the sissy Coors Light and not the craft Lagunitas IPA I drink now, but I had 6 of them. That was also back in the days when I was too proud to accept help or a ride home. God forbid I allow a nice person who offered to drive me home when I’m 45 minutes away to go out of his way when, to him, it’s not out of his way at all. Even worse, I turned down his offer to call me a cab — AND to pay for that cab. No, sir. I’m a big girl — I can take care of myself! Yeah, if I were such a “big girl,” I wouldn’t have been driving in the first place.
That said, every time, and I do mean every single time, I get into my car, I think of that night. August 16th, 2009. Remember the 45 minute drive home? I was only 10 minutes from my garage when I got pulled over. I was driving through a small town with a 35 mile per hour speed limit and stopped at the red light of a major intersection to go left. I saw a car behind me and thought I’d be nice and cut the median to save him a millisecond. About a quarter of a mile later, the car was still behind me…with the lights flashing…
