Don't Drink and Drive

This is my public service announcement for the month.

Don't Drink and Drive!!

Saturday night Drew, Jackson, Mom and I went to the country club for dinner. We had a lovely time and Jack was an an absolute angel. He even got to see some local "celebrities" as the KU basketball team was there celebrating their Big XII Conference Victory - the 5th in a row, I might add!

It started thunder storming right as we were ready to leave.

We were sitting at what Drew has always called "Lawrence's longest stoplight" for at least 2 minutes when out of nowhere we were slammed from behind. In our brand new car. With 1700 miles on it. And more importantly, our 3 month old son in the back seat.

Before you get worried...no one was injured. And while there is some slight damage to the bumper of the car, it appears to be minor. We were very fortunate.

However, as Drew got out of the car to assess the damage and exchange information it was immediately clear that the driver was intoxicated. He was also begging Drew not to call the police. So he immediately called the police. Long story short, the cop informed us that this young man (we think he had been at the basketball team's private party) had no insurance, was likely driving with a suspended license and appeared to be drunk. He was about to have a very bad night.

A tiny part of me felt sorry for him. After all, we've all been out to dinner or at a friend's house and had a couple of glasses of wine or a few beers only to drive home. If we are being 100% honest, most of us have been deserving of a DUI by the letter of the law once in our lives. But this man was beyond having a couple of drinks with dinner. He slammed into a car that was stopped at a red light on a straight road. He was impaired and should not have been behind a wheel. He could have hurt someone, or himself, much worse had he continued driving around town that night. Besides, my baby was in that car. I didn't feel sorry for him anymore.

We now have the inconvenience of dealing with car estimates, insurance companies, car repairs and will likely be out of pocket at least our insurance deductible since this guy was uninsured. But all of that is inconsequential. As sick as I am that our brand new car is now damaged, we were all unharmed when it could have been so much worse. 3 months ago this incident would have completely stressed me out. Not so today. Motherhood puts things into perspective.

Please don't drink and drive. Call a cab. Call a friend. Call your spouse. Sleep in your car. It's just not worth it.