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[BUFFJEDI]

DWI.Those three little letters stand for a lot more than most people ever think about.

I got my first invite to a X-MAS party today. You would think the first thought to come to one’s mind would be , Alright party time , the food, the women etc.

My first thought was DRUNK DRIVERS..

Than I started thinking , what will I do when someone at the party is to drunk to drive, and I know they are going to try anyway. What if I have never meet them before ? Do I try and stop them? What if I make a big scene and embarrass my self ? what if they are friends of mine and I look uncool trying to stop them.what if they really are not THAT drunk and will be ok to drive? All these questions come to mind. I was thinking these things today BUT the answer was given to me a few years ago. At a cost of a friend of mine’s life.

It was a few years ago during the summer at a local swimming pool. I was just 16 years old and was really just starting to get a social life (Star wars was my life/and weight lifting). I was there with a few of my friends , playing basketball, volleyball and when we got to hot we took a dip. We were hanging out on the deck when we heard a LOAD car pull into the parking area. We looked over and there was a Awesome Red mustang , racing cams , spoiler,all the package you could want on a car. As we were drooling over the car out steps John. John was the kind of guy we ALL wanted to be like .he was 18 almost 19 Hot car ,girls loved him, muscular , Just cool as hell. He came over and Fun time began. Man he would tell stories of the dates he had, the race he was just in , Jokes that would floor you , You just wanted to be around this guy, and he wasn’t above hanging out with a few geeks like us . The one BAD thing I noticed about John that day was he was drinking A LOT. No one else seemed to notice or they were to scared to say anything about it. I a couple of times told him jokingly that maybe he was having on to many. Nah !! he would say I have it under control. I said it a few more times that day but he just didn’t pay any attention to me . Well it was getting later into the day and John had to get to home or work(I don’t remember). He was telling all us geeks bye and I couldn’t help but mention maybe he should hang out a little longer or call his sister to pick him up. Of course I got picked on by him/and the geeks for being a worry wart/ stop being such a girl. I told him You really shouldn’t drink and drive you could get a ticket or get in a wreck . He told me/us he didn’t drink and drive , HE DRANK THAN DROVE, Laughed than turned and left. I wanted to run tackle him to the ground and NOT let him go (I had a bad feeling about something) But I didn’t, I was afraid I’d get made Fun of or get beat up or BOTH. So I left it alone. I stayed at the pool just a little longer couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes and decided to head to the house and eat something. I left the pool and turned off the side roads onto the main highway. No more than a half mile from my house a State trooper pulls me over (I was NOT speeding) of course as far as the trooper was concerned I was blah , blah blah. I went and sat in the troopers car . As I was sitting in his car I could hear his radio . Someone was talking about a wreck ( I don’t remember how it was said) but I’ll put it this way. They were talking about a wreck no more than 4 miles from my house. A car had ran off the road and hit a tree. The driver was a white male appears to be in late teens / Dead. The only thing I remember from there is I started crying like a baby . I never heard the name , But I knew. I do not remember getting home or leaving the trooper. All I can remember is waking up the next day at home. His was the first funeral I had ever been to that the dead wasn’t old. The only good thing about his death was that NOONE else got killed because of his actions.

What I’m trying to say to you all is NO MATTER WHAT do NOT let ANYONE drive drunk. I may have been able to save a friends life If I wasn’t afraid to look UNCOOL . I have to live with not doing all I could have done for the rest of my life.I know people like to drink heck I've even bought a few rounds for other's BUT PLEASE do NOT let anyone ,friend or foe drink and drive EVER!!!

[Khemir Sett]

Well put.

[darth_mcbain]

Yes, a sobering message to be heeded... DWI is definitely NOT cool - don't make the mistake of doing it, or letting someone you know do it. If you feel stupid arguing with someone and not letting them drive - don't worry about it, you should feel good that you might be saving a life. And not only the life of your friend, but of innocent people that might be harmed because of their actions.

Buff - I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend... I guess the best you can do is remind us all to not make the same mistakes. Thanks for your message...

[Jedieb]

I'm very sorry about your loss buff. Yes, you could have stopped him if you'd tackled him or taken his keys. But you can't live someone else's life for them. Maybe something positive has come from his death. It's reinforced your beliefs regarding drinking and driving. You may unwittingly have saved a few lives without even knowing it. You may do it in the future. You may even do it at this X-Mas party.

I don't think I was ever at a party in college in which someone who was over the legal limit DIDN'T drive home. There's no reasoning with someone who drinks a lot. I'm not talking about alcholics. It's simplistic to label someone who parties and drinks a lot as an alcholic. I'm talking about someone who knows how to handle their alcohol. I'm a lightweight, but I knew plenty of guys who could literally drink 5 times as much as me but only get half as buzzed. But therin lies the problem, they're still buzzed. They may still have plenty of contril over their physical faculties, but they're still over the limit and to a certain extent impaired.

Getting keys from a friend can be tough. More often than not brothers of mine would drive home when they really shouldn't have. Every once in awhile you'd stop someone who was sloppy drunk, but those victories outnumbered the losses. It's just really hard to get keys from some people. Pride, girls, convience, and stubborness make it really tough. Girls can be especially brutal. If a buddy has a chance to get laid and all that stands between him and sex is a 5 minute car ride then you better hide his keys while you can because his penis will NOT listen to you later.

I could tell story after story about alcohol, parties, girls, and driving. Some would be funny, some incredibly reckless, but luckily none tragic. I can't say that I never drove while being under the influence. But I tried my best to never get behind the wheel while I was sloppy drunk and I looked out for my fraternity brothers the best I could. Sometimes, that's all you can do. Watch your back when your out on the road on weekends and remember there are people out there that are driving drunk and reckless as hell.
MTFBWY

[JMK]

Exactly, you can't live someone's life for them. If they want to drink and drive, they will eventually do so, they'll just see to it that you aren't around when they do it. I think it's best to voice your concerns prior to going out. Organize the car pool, make arrangements for a cab and/or lodgings before going out. It's 100 times harder to talk sense into a drunken dummy than a sober person. Of all the talking I've seen in my life of the "take your friends' keys from them if they're drunk", it has never once worked. Every drunk is too proud to admit they can't drive. Ultimately, like anyone else, if you tell them they can't do something, they'll just go ahead and do it when you're not there to get in their face.

[darth_mcbain]

Your points are valid - it is extemely difficult to do. What really needs to happen is that people need to take responsibility for their own actions and not rely on their friends or make excuses. If you are going out to drink, you should have enough respect for your friends to be responsible and make arrangements beforehand and not make your friends be in a bad position later. It isn't fair to put your friends in a bad position, and you can't use them as an excuse for getting totally wasted and trusting them to prevent you from doing anything dumb.

I don't know - tough issue - hopefully between people taking their own initiative to be responsible, and friends stepping up to the plate to prevent others from drinking and driving, maybe this problem would be a whole lot less prevalent...

[Jedieb]

Personal responsibility and alcohol, what the hell are these two topics doing together? ;) You're right McBain, people do need to be responsible for their own actions. But that's one of the dangers of alcohol. It IMPAIRS your judgement. You make decisions that you normally wouldn't if you were sober. As a friend, you should at least try to keep someone from drinking and driving, but in the end they're responsible for their own actions.

On a lighter note, let's talk about another evil of alcohol. BEER GOGGLES! She looks hot! You can't figure out why none of your friends are hitting on her. You can't understand why your buddies keep giggling like schoolgirls whenever she puts her arm around your shoulder. The next morning you're covered in bruises and shes 50 lbs heavier and 50 lbs uglier than the night before. You've been the victim of BEER GOGGLES! You stagger out of her apartment and drag your sorry ass back home. What's there to greet you? Your buddies, and they start laughing at you the second you step through the door. By the end of the week everyone at school and work knows you went home with Helga, the transfer student from Bulgaria that plays center for the Girl's Basketball team. Your buddies may take your keys from you, but they'll never stop you from making an ass of yourself with a heffer. BEER GOGGLES, a drinking man's WORST enemy! :p

[darth_mcbain]

LOL :lol That's true - your friends will always give you the opportunity to make an @ss of yourself when you are drunk - that is pretty much a guarantee!!!