I rarely if ever drink, I mean it has to be one heck of a special occasion to get me to sip anything with alcohol. Not because of some moral issue, but simply as I just don't normally like the taste. That's what makes this once embarrassing incident now amusing to me, and the people like me to which this was a one time mistake as well. Unfortunately the consequences in the state I live are the same for everyone and in many cases the financial and emotional punishments can effect not just the psyche, but for many of us our once great driving records and jobs. Fortunately for me I was lucky on the job part, secure in my career and not having to worry about whether or not someone was going to mistake me for an alcoholic.
Let's start with what happened. I had just won a top award with my corporation and some of my co-workers and friends wanted to take me out to dinner to celebrate, we were to meet at a nice Italian place that typically serves the best ravioli in town. I got there about 8:00pm, everyone else was already there and had a nice bottle of Cabernet open and ready. Since it was an Italian evening and an Italian dinner I poured a glass and we all started chatting. Finally the food arrived and I took one bite and it was horrid, I pushed the plate away and being the type that does not want to complain I just decided not to eat, so I poured another glass of wine to enjoy while my friends ate. So that was 2 Large red wine glasses of wine, and empty stomach, and a body weight of 112 pounds and not knowing how alcohol effects my body as I do not drink regularly you can plainly see that I did every thing wrong here.
We finished up by 9:15pm at the latest and feeling nothing but really sleepy I got in to my car and made the idiotic mistake of 1 st , not getting a cab or another driver to get me home, but getting in to my car starting it and not turning on my headlights. Needless to say I was impaired. As soon as I pulled out of the restaurant I was pulled over flashing lights, sirens and all. I rolled down my window and the first question the officer asked was if I had been drinking and how much, I, being honest told him. That's when he asked me to get out of the car and did the eye with the pen test and the alphabet backwards (which sober I cannot even do), both of which I failed miserably. He told me he was placing me under arrest for OVI and handcuffed me put me in his car and off to the station.
By the time we got to the station about 20 minutes later I was feeling pretty normal and aware. I made sure that I showed respect and did as I was asked. The fact that he took me off the road that night was a smart decision, I could have ended up killing myself or worse someone else. He had me do the breathalyzer where I blew a .142 almost twice the legal limit. After filling out the paperwork an setting a court appearance date he let me call for a ride. How embarrassing all of this was! But in all that was the easy part of the process.
3 days later I am in court, no time to hire counsel and waiting my turn to enter my plea, when called the judge simply asked if I wanted time to hire counsel and to set another date. I said yes and called an attorney the next day. Just hiring him to get the absolute minimums (which I found out later I would have gotten anyway without an attorney being a first time offender), cost me 2 grand! We attempted to get reduced to reckless driving but that failed.
So here comes my day in court (two months after the original), I take the minimums, 6 months driving suspension with limited privileges, months probation 550.00 in court costs and fines, 425.00 in license re-instatement fees, and 550.00 to attend a 3 day driving intervention program with 109 other people.
Feeling some relief that was over the next step was the one month wait to enter the program for 3 days. They might as well as put all of us in jail for all the good that stay did. Day one they tell you how to drive safely and show you photos of people killed by drunken drivers, then they have a speaker who was wheel chair bound for life because of his drunk driving come in and shout at you for what horrible things you have done. Day two they send you to group counselors who determine whether or not you are an addict of some sort and whether or not you are a threat to society. My feeling on the entire thing with the counselor was this “If getting pulled over and handcuffed and taken to jail was not enough for you to learn your lesson, then you are a true moron.” Then of course they top the day off with more excitement as the AA people come in and want you to proclaim you are an alcoholic. Sorry, I had nothing to share. Then at the end of each day security escorts you to your rooms and comes to collect the keys to make sure you don't escape during the night. Keep in mind your day goes from 8 am to 8 pm all three days. Day three comes and all you want is to get the hell out of there. You get to hear more from another wheel chair bound man yelling at you because he was out drinking with his friends and now is paying the price we all could have been unlucky enough to suffer. After that they put on that stupid Sandra bullock Movie 28 days about rehab while each of us sees the counselors' separately. I, apparently, was not found to be a threat to society.
The thing about the program that really got me was simple. There were people who were there for their 3 rd or 4 th time. That should tell us that these programs are not very effective, for some. Also once released many of the people there waiting for their rides headed straight to the hotel bar. Then there were those like me to whom this was a one time mistake and knew we would never be back again. There were many other's that they should not have cleared and passed that did need further help!
As I said for me the lesson was learned the moment I was pulled over, for others it will be a battle that continues. I feel that my punishment could have been less and for others more, that the scales of justice just don't only balance out as they should. We need a better way of determining who is a threat and who is not. To me it seemed to be a money making machine for the state and the city, for those of us that this was a one time deal, and that repeat offenders should have been handled differently since the system had not cured them of repeating the same mistake. To all of you out there who read my articles, just follow your common sense and don't be as stupid as I was. Lucky for me the only thing really hurt here was my pride and my pocket book.
