Yesterday I told you about fair weather traffic enforcement by the law enforcement officials here in Texas. It seems they just don’t like working in the rain, did I mention that it quit raining just about sundown last night? I don’t think I did, well it did quit raining right before sundown and I just found out at dinner tonight a young man who we are friends with got to meet some of those law enforcement officials last night.
This young man we know is a pretty decent guy, with a wife and four young daughters that range in age from 8 to 15. He has a good job as director of IT security for a major outfit; he also is a former Navy Seal and was injured in combat over in the Middle East back when G W Bush declared war on terrorism. Overall he is a straight good fellow and family man. He has just one tiny little problem and it got the best of him last night.
It turns out that his brother in law has been after him to go to work for the company the brother in law works for and after a whole lot of convincing on just how much better off he would be working for that outfit he agreed to a job interview. It isn’t uncommon now a day for job interviews to be conducted over a dinner in a restaurant, the last job I interviewed for that is exactly where my interview took place, and I even remember having shrimp etouffee with a big glass of un-sweet tee.
The interview for this friend was at a Mexican restaurant that is famous for their fajitas and their margaritas, not necessarily in that order though. The “boss” conducting the interview was downing some margaritas and our friend has a problem with alcohol , he knows it and to be honest I have never even seen him have beer let alone a mixed drink, however after much convincing by the “boss”, our friend had a margarita; then another and some more after that. By the time this drinking party that started out as an interview was over our friend was well over the legal limit to probably walk, let alone drive, but he drove anyway.
Those cops who had been keeping dry all evening were out when the rain quit and they didn’t have much problem spotting our friend weaving down the highway while speeding at about 90MPH. We have a term here in Texas when you are that drunk, we call it “shit faced” and honestly he is probably lucky they caught him and pulled him over before he caused a wreck and killed or injured some innocent people.
It is mind boggling to me that an owner or manager, I don’t know which this “boss” was, would allow himself to get drunk while conducting an interview that one just scrambles my brains on that alone. Not to mention that he kept hounding the person being interviewed to have a drink with him. From what my wife said, the boss made it home okay and was at work today and business as usual for him.
Our friend ended up in the county jail and wasn’t even sobered up enough to go before the judge for a bail hearing until like 2:00 PM on Thursday afternoon, he had to be some kind of drunk that it took that long to sober up. Needless to say our friend has some big expensive legal problems ahead of him, plus I’m pretty sure that the job he currently has will be in jeopardy when the agency he works for gets wind of this episode.
I lost a couple good friends to the hands of drunk drivers and I have had a few co-workers that lost their jobs after getting DWI’s. Nothing good ever comes from drinking and driving unless you are the cop trying to meet your quota on tickets written. I use to run a website that taught people how to keep from getting charged with DWI and screwing up their lives, I even offered a money back guarantee if my program didn’t work. I never had to refund one penny in the four years I ran that site.
The program was very simple and it was easy to follow, “No Thanks. I’m driving.” That was it, if someone offered you a drink, you just responded with that phrase. The key to the program was that you had to practice, and practice using that phrase when you didn’t need it or even when it made no sense to use it, so that when someone did offer you a drink you could refuse without even considering accepting a drink. I use to get a kick out of the responses from waitresses who would ask what kind of salad I would like with my meal and I would tell them. “No, Thanks. I’m driving.” Talk about some confused looks…
I guess I should have kept that site up and running and maybe our friend would have benefitted from it. We were friends while I had it running but I’m not sure that he ever really enrolled himself into it or practiced if he had. Honestly I was shocked at dinner to hear this sad news of his DWI arrest, and I never did hear if he got the job.
Until next time,
@sultnpapper
If ur a man, and u drink margaritas... U deserve worst than that!... I mean.. what else u gonna do next, dress in drag and suck a slurpeee?
U need to work on ur friends, too... :))
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I can always depend on you...
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Hey, I just went to reply to your other comment you made the other day on my post and it was gone, what happened to it?
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I delete it... Good thing you got to read it, but I write shit when I'm drunk...
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I was holding off commenting on it because I was trying to think about a place I could suggest you looking into to exploring moving too. The thing is, and like you said, it is pretty much the same everywhere now.
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Yup...
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What really shocks me is this "boss" coaxing your friend to drink. I'm from Glasgow, and that sort of behaviour used to be the norm here, but it's become really unfashionable, possibly because there are so many recovering alcoholics about! I have a friend whose life was ruined by drink, and as a result he hasn't touched a drop for more than 20 years. I would never dream of trying to push him to drink - in fact I try to avoid the subject of alcohol altogether around him.
I do love Margaritas though :)
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Yes, I would have a hard time with a potential "boss" that would act in such a manner. I don't believe I would have even stayed around long enough for the "interview" if he were drinking and trying to pressure me into drinking.
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Wow! The best policy is not drinking at all if you know you have a problem. Alcoholism is a sickness and should be treated as such. You wouldn't offer a diabetic a cup full of sugar, why offer someone a drink if they know they shouldn't touch the stuff. Working for this boss would definitely not be a good idea. These dinners might become a habit. My husband's sister was killed by a drunk driver. It is something you ever completely get over. I also had a brother who was an alcoholic and lost everything, including his life to drink. I hope your friend is luckier and straightens hiself around before it is too late.
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He definitely had a moment of weakness and it spiraled out of control from there for sure.
Sorry to hear about your husband's sister, so many lives are cut short at the hands of drunk drivers.
I hope this teaches him the lesson, he should never forget this one.
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Lets hope he doesn't. He has too much to throw away...
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It's amazing how a bad decision can change your life. I'm sorry your friend is going through this. I hope he can bounce back from it.
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Oh dear, while I do not condone drinking and driving whatsoever, I'm flabbergasted how some people do this as regular as clockwork and never get caught, but someone like your friend does this once and they're nabbed! Hope things work out for him. Sounds like you had a great program going there!
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It is pretty amazing some times how things work, but giving in to the pressure to have a drink was the last thing I thought he would ever do.
My website never generated a dime, it actually lost money but only because I never charged anything, I did it as more of a public service. I even gave away free "No, thanks. I'm driving." bumper stickers to people if the just sent a self addressed stamped envelope for me to put them in.
I did have some other bumper stickers that I created that I sold through an online store / printer but those didn't sell real well, i can't even think of the name of the place at the moment, I just did , it was zazzle.com and the store name was nothanksimdriving , you could see all my bumber sticker, buttons, and shirt designs there if you google those.
i did have a professor from Harvard University contact me about using my idea in conjunction with another program he was promoting called the "designated driver" . He didn't come up with that idea either but he found it over in Denmark I think and then brought it to the United States and starting promoting it.
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There's so many programs worldwide to try and stop drinking & driving, there's even vending machines at clubs, restaurants etc here in our country. I'm sure it does reach some so really is worthwhile, your website sounds great, pity you had to stop but sure must have been time consuming as well, perhaps something you could do again when you retire? Will definitely look for your stickers online.
I know a couple who lost two children who were hit by a drunken driver whilst crossing the road, terrible tragedy!
Have a safe weekend mr Papper!
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I intend on having a safe one and you do the same. That is a real shame about those two children, and it happens all to often.
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Thank you, will try! That loss really affected that poor mother's mental health for many many years, was very sad.
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I to think it was good he was pulled over before he could hurt himself or anyone else, I learnt from a friends experience young and do not drink and drive since I was 22, well now its easy I dont drink
But a work Interview and forcing the interviewee to drink is crazy in my mind
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I wouldn't say the guy "forced" him to drink but he did keep hounding him to have a drink to the point that he gave in and it was a downhill spiral just like he pretty much knew it would be ... he just can't say no after the first one.
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Yes Forced was the wrong word on my part, but not being able to say know and gettign shit faced ( a term we also use down Under) probably does not bode well for him either
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Yes, in the end no matter what words we use to describe it , he screwed up big time and will end up paying the price for the mistake.
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Alcohol really brings out the most terrible traits in some of us.
That reminds me, I actually talked with a friend today. Apparently, we do have traffic lights that track people going over red lights as well. Mostly at big crossovers in larger cities though.
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Its like pouring gasoline on a dumpster fire what booze can do to some folks.
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I have never been drunk in my life. I don't intend to ever change that.
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Well that is good to hear, most people who end up drinking and driving that cause accidents and deaths never intended too either but it happens. A person doesn't need alcohol to have fun, I proved that to myself years ago.
I can't say I've never been drunk or done some stupid things when I was but it didn't take me long to realize it wasn't worth the risk in the long run.
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Wish more people would come to that realization. It would make the world a more pleasant place.
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Doing 90MPH while so drunk he wasn't even sobered up by 2 the next afternoon. Yeah, he needed to be pulled over and thrown directly in jail. Sorry he's your friend and all, but that is completely over the line.
Here in NM with our serious drunk driving problem, we're especially sensitized to that danger. We have had some horrific accidents in this state caused by drunk drivers. The specifics of your friend and his case are chillingly similar to this one.
https://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/201339162336newsstate02-20-09.htm
He should thank his lucky stars someone managed to stop him before it turned tragic. Honestly, I don't have much sympathy.
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Honestly, I don't either when it comes to the sympathy for him. He is damn near 40 years old and should be well beyond being pressured into doing something that he knows he can't handle. As a former Navy seal he is supposed to have mental toughness in my mind.
If the "boss" had a .38 Special revolver with one bullet in it and was playing Russian Roulette I wouldn't expect him to sit there and let himself be talked into playing , but that is what having a drink is like for this guy.
The stretch of highway he got pulled over on is notorious for having a bunch of drunk driving related accidents and deaths. The state even put up big red signs with the number of deaths related to drunk driving on that stretch of road and that it has "stepped up patrol" for drunk driving in that area because of that.
I haven't talked to him yet since this has happened because I am really pissed at him about this. His wife worked for us when she was a teenager and in her early twenties when we had our daycare center, her mother and my wife are best friends. So he came into the picture thru marriage and has been a pretty decent guy up until this stunt, but he had this drinking skeleton in his closet which reared its ugly head the other night.
If I have any sympathy it is for the wife and girls who will be affected by this episode of his, that would be the extent of mine. I am not a person who gives a pass on drunk drivers as I have lost friends to them in the past and seen others ruin their lives by getting a DWI.
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