Hi!
I'm back from the probation meeting. I paid off the balance of what I owed them and found out that all I have to do is go back on November 6th for one last meeting and then I'm done. Cool beans.
I promise you this, I will never drink and drive again. I only had two beers and I was entirely secure in my sobriety. But at 92 pounds, I was over the limit. To this day, I don't know what I blew. I was so stunned when they said, "You're under arrest." that I just sat down in astonishment...taking in the gravity of the situation. As bad as I thought it was at that moment, I was clueless as to the severity of the situation. And, unless you've actually experienced the year after a DUI, you don't have a clue either.
The dumbest thing about it all is that I don't drink. Whenever I told anyone who knows me, they responded, "YOU got a DUI? You don't even drink!" I might drink 5 times a year...a glass of champaigne at New Year's, a glass of wine here or a bottle of beer there...but basically I never drink. I don't like the taste of it and I don't like the way it makes me feel.
Don't get me wrong...I'd love to have a nice beer buzz...I just don't like to actually drink.
I used to.
I used to drink until someone said sternly, "Margaret....WE AIN"T GOT NO MORE LIQUOR!" Not only did I drink, and often...I drove after I had been drinking a few times as well. I never planned to...but hell, who plans to get drunk? And, who is thinking in their right mind when they ARE drunk? Hell...who evens REALIZES that they're drunk?
If I had truly been drunk, I would have appreciated the cop for pulling me over. I would thank him publically. Cops never know how many lives they save by pulling over drunk drivers. If I were driving drunk, a cop could potentially be saving my life and the lives of others. I totally respect the idea of stopping drunk drivers and I accept total responsibility for what happened because I did blow over the legal limit (whatever it was) and I did drink and drive, even it WAS only two beers. So, I'm not trying to weasel out of anything at all.
BUT...I was NOT drunk. They didn't pull me over because I was driving erratically...it was because a light was out. I was actually giving a drunk friend a ride to his apartment and he was too drunk to find it. I didn't know where he lived and after a while, I just drove home and asked him to crash on my couch. I was tired and he smelled like a brewery. He refused to come inside and wanted to go home so I actually went back out and tried again. The guy stunk so badly that when I rolled down the window for the cop, HE could smell the drunk dude.
Naturally I heard the question, "Have you been drinking, ma'am?" And for some strange reason, instead of saying, "It's not me, it's him."...I told the truth. I wasn't the least bit concerned, after all, I was sober.
If I would have refused the test, I would have lost my license for a year. As it is, I've lost it for a year and a half all together, I've paid thousands of dollars in fines, done community service, attend weekly group drug and alchohol meetings, monthly probation visits, two weeks in jail, DUI school, drugs screens and the stigma of having a DUI.
I still have a bit less than a month left and then it's all over. Except for the trip to the DMV and the reinstatement fines.
Oy vey.
Meg
I'm back from the probation meeting. I paid off the balance of what I owed them and found out that all I have to do is go back on November 6th for one last meeting and then I'm done. Cool beans.
I promise you this, I will never drink and drive again. I only had two beers and I was entirely secure in my sobriety. But at 92 pounds, I was over the limit. To this day, I don't know what I blew. I was so stunned when they said, "You're under arrest." that I just sat down in astonishment...taking in the gravity of the situation. As bad as I thought it was at that moment, I was clueless as to the severity of the situation. And, unless you've actually experienced the year after a DUI, you don't have a clue either.
The dumbest thing about it all is that I don't drink. Whenever I told anyone who knows me, they responded, "YOU got a DUI? You don't even drink!" I might drink 5 times a year...a glass of champaigne at New Year's, a glass of wine here or a bottle of beer there...but basically I never drink. I don't like the taste of it and I don't like the way it makes me feel.
Don't get me wrong...I'd love to have a nice beer buzz...I just don't like to actually drink.
I used to.
I used to drink until someone said sternly, "Margaret....WE AIN"T GOT NO MORE LIQUOR!" Not only did I drink, and often...I drove after I had been drinking a few times as well. I never planned to...but hell, who plans to get drunk? And, who is thinking in their right mind when they ARE drunk? Hell...who evens REALIZES that they're drunk?
If I had truly been drunk, I would have appreciated the cop for pulling me over. I would thank him publically. Cops never know how many lives they save by pulling over drunk drivers. If I were driving drunk, a cop could potentially be saving my life and the lives of others. I totally respect the idea of stopping drunk drivers and I accept total responsibility for what happened because I did blow over the legal limit (whatever it was) and I did drink and drive, even it WAS only two beers. So, I'm not trying to weasel out of anything at all.
BUT...I was NOT drunk. They didn't pull me over because I was driving erratically...it was because a light was out. I was actually giving a drunk friend a ride to his apartment and he was too drunk to find it. I didn't know where he lived and after a while, I just drove home and asked him to crash on my couch. I was tired and he smelled like a brewery. He refused to come inside and wanted to go home so I actually went back out and tried again. The guy stunk so badly that when I rolled down the window for the cop, HE could smell the drunk dude.
Naturally I heard the question, "Have you been drinking, ma'am?" And for some strange reason, instead of saying, "It's not me, it's him."...I told the truth. I wasn't the least bit concerned, after all, I was sober.
If I would have refused the test, I would have lost my license for a year. As it is, I've lost it for a year and a half all together, I've paid thousands of dollars in fines, done community service, attend weekly group drug and alchohol meetings, monthly probation visits, two weeks in jail, DUI school, drugs screens and the stigma of having a DUI.
I still have a bit less than a month left and then it's all over. Except for the trip to the DMV and the reinstatement fines.
Oy vey.
Meg
posted by Meg Kelso | 11:48 AM
4 Comments:
Yeah Meg, it is almost over. You can almost see it in your grasp. I know this has been a long trip for you, hang in there 29 more days!!
Yes, Meg. Hang in there. We will Always support you.
Meg,
I've been reading your blog, but never knew why you had been arrested.
Sometimes I just don't think the dui laws are fair. I did a test once with drinking beers then blowing into the tube for my number. At 0.08 I felt fine and wouldn't have any trouble driving. I know I have driven many times worse than that, and felt that I had no loss of control. 0.12 to me seems like my limit for safety. I think the laws have gone too far in this direction in the guise of safety. What about all the lives that get ruined from being arrested from when they are still sober? I read a stat one time that said the rate of accidents from people with a blood alchohol reading from 0.08 - 0.1 was the same as those who hadn't drunk at all. Over 0.1 the rate of accidents goes up.
Sorry for the rant. Good luck.
I totally agree with you. I am not an advocate of driving drunk, but I don't think that we all should be subject to ONE level of sobriety. We all have varying degrees of tolerance. I was TOTALLY sober that night and did not really deserve the DUI...but as I said, I did drink and drive so mea culpa.
Meg
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