DESIGNATED DRIVER

I am a non-drinker, a member of MADD, and we do not serve liquor in our home. I am not opposed to other people drinking;  however, I expect them to behave responsibly. In nearly all social situations involving alcohol, my husband and I are gladly the designated drivers. 

Recently, I was enjoying a social gathering with a group of women; all of them were drinking margaritas. I can't help noticing the number of drinks people consume. After the dinner, in the parking lot, I announced, "I'll have to make two trips; my car isn't big enough for all of you to ride at once." Three of the women said, "Thanks, Sue." The fourth said that she was OK and would drive home. I said, quietly, but emphatically, "If you get in that car, I WILL call the police."  She said, "Who do you think you are?  You gotta be kidding!" One of the others said, "Trust me, she will do it." The woman answered, defiantly, that she would call a cab. I answered, "THEN I will wait here until the cab comes." One of the other women told her that I should take her home first and that she would wait for me to return. During the short ride to her home she was very defensive, insisting that she was "perfectly OK";  I told her that she was slurring her words and that she would not be acting that way if she were sober.

The following day she called to apologize BUT I subsequently learned that she also called one of the other women and said that she would NEVER go out with me again and be humiliated like that.

I wonder what her level of humiliation would have been if she had been arrested as a drunk driver.

Read the eye-opening article from the New York Times regarding the consequences and calculations of being over the legal limit.  click here.