It's so, so easy to get one....

From the Cop side, to help my Soldier friends and others:
One of my favorite blogg sites is "Words From a Warrior"...sometimes I post on that sight as a guest. There's a recent entry about a person who keeps their cell phone on full volume just in case a friend might need a ride home after having too many drinks. That person is a HERO!
Let me tell you all a few things that just might help keep you from getting a DUI. As a civilian cop, I have a thing about arresting those who drive drunk....my older brother was put in the hospital for weeks when he was in high school because a drunk driver hit the motorcycle he was on the back of--- killing my brother's friend. One of my uncles was killed by a drunk driver. But guess what-- in both cases, my brother's friend and my uncle...they were also driving while drunk! I wonder if they had been sober if they would have been able to avoid the crash that killed them.
As a cop, I've arrested lots of drunk drivers.....sometimes I got them too late...after the crash. My goal was to catch them before the crash so nobody got hurt.
What was so common in most of the drunk driving cases I investigated? In so many cases, the person was just average. They had stopped for dinner, or at a friends house, or whatever. They had just planned on having one or two drinks. They did. Then they had one or two more, and one or two more. I found that most of the time, after two drinks, the average person can't count.
After my unit returned from Iraq. One of the sergeants I was in charge of, who had also been to Bosnia with me... called me one day. He had to tell me that he'd been arrested for a DUI. His story sounded like one I had heard a lot of times. "I stopped to have dinner with friends after work....I thought I only had two drinks...but I guess I lost count."
He was driving a company truck, so he had to tell his civilian boss. He was at risk of loosing his Army security clearance, and getting punitive action from the National Guard (double jeopardy?)
In California there are some mandatory things that are going to happen to someone convicted of DUI. You are going to spend lots of time and money going to court, treatment, a few days in jail, insurance increases, driving restrictions, and other things that now take TEN YEARS to clear your record.
Enough of trying to scare you. So, lets say you got back from Iraq and you want to go party. How did you survive Iraq? With a good plan....and a good back up plan. Plan out your drinking. If you are going to drink ---any amount--- you are not going to drive. Have a designated driver. If you think that's a wusss thing to do, then think about the crash you're going to have if someone like me doesn't catch you first. Let's say you crash into another car with a family and you injure or kill some innocent kid or their parent. How are you going to live with that Hero?
Drink smart, or I'm going to come and kick your ass. The person you kill might be you... if that's what you want to do, don't do it in a way that might hurt others.
Remember, you came home a hero....one little slip, and then you're an asshole. Trust me, having people think you're a hero feels a lot better.