Saturday 8/31/24
Heard the awful news about Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau yesterday when I was on my way to Charlestown. Then later I learned that their deaths occurred on the eve of their sister's wedding.
People get very angry and defensive when you say this--a lot of true colors come out--but if you have a drunk driving incident, you should never be allowed to drive again. This went beyond an incident--running over and killing two people on bicycles--but any time a person gets behind a wheel under the influence of alcohol, this is what can happen. It's a possibility. That person is putting the lives of others at risk. They are potentially changing so many lives. These two young men lost their lives, and then you have all of the people who have to go on living with this loss and what it means to them and their lives.
There is no excuse for drunk driving. I'd have a zero tolerance/forgiveness policy. People say, "Well, it's not intentionally hurting someone," but it's tantamount to the same thing. You have to be some special kind of moron not to know what driving drunk can mean and do at this point. It's no different than an intentional act because you know what can happen, you're informed, you're up to speed, and you're still willing to get out there like that and perhaps end and destroy lives.
The dangers and realities of drunk driving have been hammered and hammered into people since the 1980s. That's when drunk driving awareness--and a much greater attempt at accountability--really kicked up. So by now you know. Everyone knows.
And if you still choose to drink and drive--because it's a conscious choice--then that means you've gone out that time on the road as a potential murderer who will take his or her chances with the lives of innocents.
I think that's a form of evil. I really do. To play fast and loose with someone else's mortality for no reason at all--because you always have another way to get there--is evil.
Arrogance is a big part of drinking and driving. That one is above the law, that one is different, that one's driving ability isn't impaired because they're such a capable driver, etc. It's easier than ever to get a ride. We have all of these car services if one doesn't have a friend. Now we have phones in the mix. Driving has ever been more dangerous for innocent people just going about their lives. I don't drive right now, but even I'm affected by bad drivers who are not in the right driving headspace. If I wasn't walking defensively, I'd get run over every week. People aren't looking, they're on their phones; if it's a one-way street they're turning down, they will only look one way before they make their turn, and if you don't allow for this and keep going--even with the crosswalk and the right of way--they'll run you down.
Here's an unfortunate truth about people: They don't give a fuck about anyone but themselves. For anything. If they want to get home and eat that steak and cheese sub, that's all they care about. They don't care about what they might do to you. They're not looking out for you. No one looks out for anyone. Or hardly anyone. Listen to every asshole who lays on their horn because someone took a second to get going again when the light turned green. You think that person really has anywhere to be that's so important? They're so valuable and vital and need to be on scene somewhere straight away?
Of course not. People are only interested in themselves and their every last convenience, even if it's not a convenience at all. They just want what they feel they want. And this goes right down to the smallest things. "I don't want to wait five minutes for an Uber."
I say there should be all of these changes and laws, but that never happens. Prisons are overstuffed with people as it is. Then you have money. You always have money. Money is what makes so much go 'round. A lot of people make a lot of money from alcohol. Morals, safety, and even matters of life and death will always take a backseat to greed. Most people don't care about having blood on their hands if the money is coming in. And it can be more money than they need. So long as it's coming in.
We must always first think of other people. If your first thought is not for others, you are not living life as life should be lived. This is in all things. It's in what you say, how you act, the decisions you make, and when you get behind--or don't get behind--a wheel. It is not your right to put the lives of others in danger.
A horrible, horrible story. Stories like this are as horrible as they for so many reasons. Children left behind. Spouses. Parents. Lives stamped out at what should have been a third of the way through. Think of all of that pain. That pain that will now always be there for those people. How much do you think it ever goes away? That means lives, for their duration, with this pain. We say that a life is changed, but a person is changed, too. This is not the kind of change that you should have to undergo.
And horrible because it's always so preventable. Don't be a selfish, arrogant, stupid, evil person, and put the keys back in your pocket.
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