I Got The Call

[Mobasser]

This morning at 5:45 I got a call from the wife of a very old friend. He wrecked his car last night while driving drunk, and got pretty banged up. He's in the hospital this morning. Like many of us, I did my share of beer drinking with my buddies when in my early 20s. I stopped when I got married at 24 and my first daughter was born. Steve has been through AA, and has been fired from a good job for drinking. Now, he's facing a DUI charge, plus a recovery time due to his injuries. He shouldn't have been out there driving in the first place. He's lucky to be alive, and, lucky this happened on a gravel road, out in the country, where there wasn't any other folks involved. He could have easily killed someone. I'd bet he'd run out of beer, and was trying to get to the liquor store to buy more, before they closed. Not only will this cost him a few thousand dollars, it put a huge stress on his wife and family. My dad told me when I was in my teens" for most guys, one is enoupgh, and two is too many." My dad was right. I've tried to talk with him over the years about his drinking, yet, he still continues drinking too much. Now, I'm at the end of my rope with him. Two DUIs now, and he'll be lucky to keep his job. If your the kind of guy who likes to drink, please do it at home, and know your limitations. Booze has caused so many problems for so many good people over the years. Just like my dad said all those years ago. " For most guys, one is enoupgh, and two.is too many". It's been that way forever.

[Koz]

I got the call from my Dad when I was 19 and home from college and summer hockey for a few weeks. He said, "Call Reverend Carpenter and have him meet us at the hospital. Your brother has been in an accident."

 

He was 16 years old at the time and spent 6 months in a coma. That was 36 years ago and I remember it like it was yesterday. He survived, but the brain damage altered his life path.

 

I've seen far too many people whose lives were ruined by alcohol. I've fired far too many that let alcohol dominate their lives.

 

If anyone out there even thinks for one split second that they might need to cut down on their drinking, they definitely need to cut down on their drinking.

 

Don't let someone you care about get the call.

[Hammer 4]

I can relate. Both parents, and my younger brother all died alcoholics..None of them reached the age of 60. We've had good friends die from being hit by drunk drivers.

 

I was never a heavy drinker, and when I got married at 21, pretty much gave it up. Seen to many lives ruined by alcohol. I could go on, and on, but I'm sure you guys get the point.

 

Please..don't drink and drive.

[Columbia Craw]

My younger brother and his fiance' where hit by a drunk driver on Christmas Eve 1976.  They died. The driver wasn't even injured.  No SFST, PBT or BAC's back then.  The driver had just left an after work Christmas party.  Sorry to hear about your friend.  He's alive.

[NYWayfarer]

28 minutes ago, Hammer 4 said:

 

Please..don't drink and drive.

This can’t be stressed enough. My friend, and godfather of my son lost his own son at 19 in a drunk driving accident. He will not get behind the wheel if he has had even 1 alcohol drink.

 

My wife and I pledged to do the same. We take turns being the designated driver when we go out. It has worked for close to 20 years of marriage. 

[Bluebasser86]

I won't even have 1 drink if I'm driving home, it just isn't worth it. Call a cab, call an Uber, call a friend, whatever, don't steal a loved one from someone else with a dumb decision. I'm not going to pretend I've never made that bad decision. Unfortunately I've been exposed to it a lot growing up so it was "okay as long you drive back roads and side streets", it's not. Alcoholism runs wild through my dad's side of the family. All high functioning for the most part, able to hold good jobs and lead normal lives. Oddly enough, a drunk driver almost killed his older brother, who was actually sober at the moment. I remember my dad getting arrested when I was a kid. I didn't know it at the time, but I remember my mom screaming at him through the phone that she wasn't coming to pick him up and he could just stay there overnight until they let him out, realized what happened many years later. A drunk driver killed a co-worker of mine a few years back while he was stopped on the side of the highway. Seeing his kids at the funeral pleading to see their dad, but the casket was sealed up because his patrol car caught fire and there wasn't much left, an image I doubt I'll ever forget.

[Oregon Native]

Sadness.....we can live by example....so tuff to tell people what and how to live.  

We all know better...and have the answers....

(So we think)

Lifted

[DanielG]

Man, a tough situation for sure. I hope it all works out for you.

 

When I was 10 yrs old I made a vow to myself never to drink. I was living with it and it was a no brainer. I haven't had any alcohol at all in 65 yrs. If you don't drink and never have, being in a culture of drinkers is sort of like being a loner. The closest I can come to it is like when I was in college when everyone had a nickel bag of pot in their dorm. You'd walk into a room where a half dozen people were high and they'd pass it to you. I'd refuse and they'd laugh it off and wonder what was wrong with me. Today I feel like I live in a world of self medicators. If I tell people I don't drink they often back off because they think I must have been through a 12 step program and they don't want to upset the plan. When I tell them I don't drink and never did, they look at me in disbelief..as if I had just told them I don't breath.

[Guitarfish]

I drank a lot of beer as a young guy. Quit when I realized I was doing stupid stuff.  Now all these years later I get a headache after one drink and it usually upsets my stomach.  So now my body is self regulating.

[TnRiver46]

I know a couple old timers that say tobacco and alcohol are far and away the most addictive things there are and they tried them all. Ironically they are both legal and widely distributed 

[Sam]

Crawling on my hands and knees from the Officers Club to my BOQ at Fort Mead is when I swore off booze.

 

Have not had a drink since then, back in 1968.

 

Don't need it and it can mess up your love life, too.

[Dirtyeggroll]

On 6/16/2020 at 9:23 AM, Mobasser said:

This morning at 5:45 I got a call from the wife of a very old friend. He wrecked his car last night while driving drunk, and got pretty banged up. He's in the hospital this morning. Like many of us, I did my share of beer drinking with my buddies when in my early 20s. I stopped when I got married at 24 and my first daughter was born. Steve has been through AA, and has been fired from a good job for drinking. Now, he's facing a DUI charge, plus a recovery time due to his injuries. He shouldn't have been out there driving in the first place. He's lucky to be alive, and, lucky this happened on a gravel road, out in the country, where there wasn't any other folks involved. He could have easily killed someone. I'd bet he'd run out of beer, and was trying to get to the liquor store to buy more, before they closed. Not only will this cost him a few thousand dollars, it put a huge stress on his wife and family. My dad told me when I was in my teens" for most guys, one is enoupgh, and two is too many." My dad was right. I've tried to talk with him over the years about his drinking, yet, he still continues drinking too much. Now, I'm at the end of my rope with him. Two DUIs now, and he'll be lucky to keep his job. If your the kind of guy who likes to drink, please do it at home, and know your limitations. Booze has caused so many problems for so many good people over the years. Just like my dad said all those years ago. " For most guys, one is enoupgh, and two.is too many". It's been that way forever.

If you can bear the extra burden in your life, he needs you now more than ever.

[slonezp]

Lost my cousin back in the late 80's. It was his 16th birthday and he was sitting in the back seat. His friend was in the front passengers seat and friends dad was driving. They were headed to an amusement park stopped waiting to make a left turn. A drunk, driving a cement truck, drove right over the car.

 

On the flip side, my brother drives OTR. He was local on this particular run mid 90's and was driving inbound to Chicago and a drunk guy in a van driving outbound in the inbound lanes hit him head on. Drunk didn't make it. My brother just ended up with some bumps and bruises. His brand new tractor was totaled.

[N Florida Mike]

I was a once a week drunk for 5 years. Driving drunk, fights, wake up sometimes next morning in bed , rack  your brain to try and remember how in the world I got there. I have a big scar on the side of my right thumb that was caused by me riding with a drunk driving friend , hitting an oak tree nearly head on with his dads brand new Ford truck. He wasnt injured. About 6 months later he was at it again and ran into a bridge abutment. He wasnt injured.  Had another aquaintance that killed a mother and daughter by driving drunk and hitting them head on. He got 7 years in prison, got out and started drinking and driving again. He was drunk and got ran over one night walking across a road. Talk about justice! But still sad.  

I was driving drunk one night on a gravel road out in the country somewhere west of Gainesville fl. I remember going off the road and riding around in somebody’s back yard. Got back on the gravel road and was going 70 or so. I heard a voice in my mind say “ STOP!!!!” I slammed on brakes and slid right up to a deep drop off into a big drainage ditch full of water .The road just ended . My life nearly did as well. That half sobered me up and I drove carefully home.

I was completely delivered from alcohol in 1982, at 22 years of age. Haven’t had a drink since.

I have a couple family members that have been drug addicts for 20+ years. I have tried and prayed for so many years for them to no avail

( yet) . Its a miracle their still alive...