I HAD TO ADD TO MY DUI DEATH LIST

Sadly, this post isn't about my art work. This post is about two deaths that occurred over the weekend in my community. The link to the article is http://www.herald-review.com/articles/2008/11/19/news/local/1037128.txt I've been around for awhile now. I've raised two young men that are responsible and trustworthy. They are hard workers, know right from wrong and don't take unacceptable risks...."usually". I'd say that describes us all. We all make a bad choice now and then. My boys knew the young men that were killed over the weekend. My husband and I knew one of them. When I heard about it my heart sank and I had to add them to my mental and visual list of people I know that have been killed in DUI accidents. The first goes back to 1979, his name was Dave. He was in a one-car DUI accident, hit by a train of all things. The second was my cousin. He was a victim that did NOT die. A drunk driver of a truck decided to play chicken with the car my cousin was a passenger in. Out of four people in the car, my cousin was the only one that lived. He never lost consciousness and had to listen to the death sounds, with a chunk of the driver's hair lodged in his hand. Permanent scars folks. Permanent scars. This shit doesn't go away. My list is much longer than these two and I will spare you from reciting all of the horror. Just know the list is long. I've always been amazed that we even call these "accidents". In my mind, shouldn't it be expected that if a car is being driven by someone intoxicated there is a good probability you will be injured, will injure someone else or die? We've all been guilty of this practice. Some of us learn from the mistake and if we have the luxury of surviving we never do it again. Some of us don't and continue to play Russian roulette with our lives and the lives of strangers. It sickens me. I may be a hard-ass but when you choose to drive drunk, or you choose to get into a car that is being driven by someone that is intoxicated this is a choice, not an accident. To say that these "accidents" are unintentional just doesn't pacify me the way it pacifies the rest of society I guess. The social acceptability of this issue angers me to my very core. So, read the article from the link attached. You will see that these boys were well mannered, athletic and smart young men, active in sports, made responsible decisions, were loved by all, and made one bad decision. One very tragic decision. So many in my community loved these kids and they will be missed. So, with the holidays upon us, let the partying begin. But please folks, if someone you know is going to drive drunk, take their keys, their purse, tackle them in the parking lot, punch their lights out, chain them to a wall, do whatever needs to be done. You will, in all likelihood, be saving lives, including theirs. A black eye in the morning is a small price to pay. It is this serious of an issue and accepting this as "just the way things are in our culture" doesn't cut it. Not for this mourner. Laurie B.