Dear Drunk Drivers, Your Drink Is Not Worth Someone's Life
It's time to confront drunk drivers.
Dear drunk drivers,
I want to confront you on a topic that I'm sure you have already been confronted about: drunk driving.
No drink is worth the human life that you could possibly take away for the simple decision you made to drive. If you even have to question it, don't drive.
Almost 30 people every day die due to an accident involving a drunk driver. 30. It has become far too common for that to be one of the biggest reasons for car accidents. Don't you think it's sad that the first thing people ask when they hear about accidents is if alcohol was involved?
People are losing their best friends, their mothers, their fathers, their siblings, their children. How would you feel if you had to go through that pain of losing people you love knowing that the reason they are dead is because of a stupid decision someone decided to make, and yes, I said stupid. Believe me, you do not want to be in jail with the guilty conscience of knowing that somebody is dead because of you.
I feel like a common excuse for drunk drivers to say why they drove is that they couldn't afford to get a ride. I'm here to tell you that if you can afford to go out and get drunk, then you can afford to be responsible and get a ride home. Whether you get an Uber or Lyft or have a friend come and get you, you need to take care of yourself and the other innocent people on the road. One second you could feel like you're fine to drive, while the next it could all hit you and you're swerving off the road. Don't be that guy. That guy doesn't look good.
Besides from injuring or potentially killing yourself or another person, you are also putting yourself at risk of getting a DUI. Driving under the influence is the most common criminal offense in the United States. While you may understand that getting a DUI would result in a suspended license, fees and fines, jail time and mandatory community service work, you may not realize that long-term consequences can include your license being completely revoked, your employment/future employment being negatively affected, higher insurance rates, and a lowering of your reputation that could potentially ruin professional and personal relationships.
Your drink is not worth ruining your life over. I'm not telling you to not drink, I'm just begging you to be responsible. Think about what you're doing before you do it. Ask yourself, if things go wrong, if you could look at yourself in the mirror every day and forgive yourself for killing someone else if you even get the chance to look in the mirror in the first place. You will never look bad for deciding to do the right thing, but you will look bad if you willingly do the wrong thing. Just because you have driven under the influence before, it doesn't mean you should do it again. You weren't in the right for getting home OK, you were lucky.
You at least owe that much to yourself. Don't try to put up a front and pretend like you're good to drive. If you know you have to drive home, limit yourself and make sure that when it's time to drive that you're sober. Who cares if your friends look at you like your crazy. If they're judging you for not driving after you've been drinking, then those people shouldn't be your friends.
I'm begging you, be aware of what you are doing. Be smart. I, as well as almost everyone I know, have lost people due to drunk driving. I know people who have a DUI and every single one of them would admit that driving drunk is one of their biggest regrets. If it's a decision that you may possibly regret later, then the right choice is to probably not do it.
Think about the phone call. How would you feel if you get a call or the police show up at your doorstep to tell you that your wife is dead? How would feel if you got a call that your daughter was riding her bike home when a drunk driver swerved and killed her instantly? How would you feel getting your court date where you're found guilty of murder for killing someone because you drove drunk?
It's not worth it. Your drink is not worth the consequences. Your drink is not worth someone's life.
Period.
11 Things To Do On Those Easygoing Fall Weekends We All Love
Let's be real, sitting in your dorm room or going out and partying all the time gets pretty old.
When boredom hits, it hits hard. I know I'm not the only one who dreads just sitting in my dorm room with my friends, and sometimes we need a change of scenery from our usual hang-out spots. I compiled the perfect list of fall dates for you and your friends or significant others.
Go Apple or Pumpkin Picking
It's one of my favorite things to do. The experience of the crisp fall air and the beauty of the apple orchards or pumpkin patches is unlike any other.
Plus, you can usually do this for a relatively cheap price. Bonus points if you go to a local farm. Support your small businesses!
Have a Fall Photoshoot
Another one of my favorite things about fall is the fashion. I'm a sucker for sweaters, leggings and my favorite Doc Martens. Your iPhone works great, or a polaroid camera goes perfectly with the season!
Drive to your local pumpkin patch, farm or just walk around your area. There are so many cool places to take pictures.
Pumpkin Painting
This is a great solution if you live in a dorm or apartment building and don't want or can't have an actual rotting, live pumpkin out for the entire month of October. Jack-o-lanterns are fun, but you can always buy the Styrofoam ones from Michael's and paint them. Have a contest with your friends or turn on your favorite Halloween-themed movie and go nuts.
Scary Movie Drive-In
This can still work if you don't have a drive-in theater near you. I was lucky enough to grow up 30 minutes away from an actual drive-in, where I could go hang out with my friends. But there's nothing wrong with building a fort in your living room or just hanging out in bed under the covers. The important thing here is the scary movies.
Go Out for Brunch or Bagels
If "Sex and the City" has taught us anything, it's that you can never go wrong with brunch with your friends. Bypass the mimosas and go for apple cider. Or if you're over 21, drink as many mimosas as you please.
Either way, I know I love bacon, egg and cheese bagels. And I will never say no to lazy Sundays with bagels and my friends.
Bowling
I always forget how much fun this is until I'm invited to do it for a group-bonding activity. Cosmic bowling takes me back to my middle school days, but I still find singing to classics with my friends and laughing at my subpar bowling skills fun. Don't @ me.
Bake Halloween Cookies
My grandma makes those Pillsbury sugar cookies with the cartoons on them for every single season. As the years go by and they add more graphics, she still doesn't get tired of buying them and baking them for us and the kids she teaches at her Sunday school classes.
Do it for grandma. Bake the cookies.
Go Thrift Shopping
This can be as cheap or expensive as you want it to be. I have a fear of trying things on in thrift stores, but I love buying XXL shirts from the adult-men section and making them into crop tops — then washing them three times before I consider them wearable.
It's fashion. Or laziness. Either way, now I have an outfit to go pumpkin picking in or to wear at my fall photoshoot.
Paint and Sip
I, like many of my friends, am underage. My mom has gone to those wine-and-paint parties, and they look super fun. I'm deciding to take it up a notch and do a cider-and-paint party.
Most towns have these studios, or you can invite your friends over and throw one yourself. They're super fun, and you get art to take home afterward!
Go on a Coffee Tour
Or a hot chocolate tour. I'm a big coffeehouse person, and I'm always looking for an excuse to drink as much coffee as I can in a 24-hour period. It keeps you inside, and the aesthetic of coffee houses is very pleasing.
Decorate Your Dorm or Home
You don't have to spend money on this! You can draw some pumpkins on computer paper, cut them out and tape them up. Or you can be extra like my roommates, buy a light box and put "It's freakin bats… I love Halloween" on it. You can buy skeleton decorations for your TV. It's up to you.