Today is Valentine’s Day and a wonderful day for lovers around the world. This wine column could get into a variety of wines to pair for this wonderful day. However, today’s theme is a sobering theme of drinking responsibly. This evening will be filled with dinner dates and flowing wines. One glass of the “nectar of the gods” could lead to another and then another. Suggested limits are one glass of wine at intervals of an hour each. If more than one glass is consumed, I hope you will consider how wonderful UBER and LYFT can be when you decide to make it home having just one too many or two too many! I hope you and everyone else celebrating this day for lovers will leave the restaurant of your choice in a responsible manner. More than one glass in an hour at your favorite restaurant can put you into not only a dangerous situation driving home, but could cost you much more than you realize. How would you feel IF you were just slightly impaired and hit someone as you drove home? You could hurt someone, including the one whom you love dearly sitting next to you in your car. Just that thought alone should provide you with a sobering thought of finding an alternate way home in a safe manner for you and your loved one. Even worse is if you were to collide with someone while impaired hurting, maiming, or even taking away a precious life. Obviously any accident would immediately find you with jewelry around your wrists being carted off to jail to face “Driving Under the Influence.” These DUI charges are very costly incurring thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars in court costs, bond costs, attorney fees, and fines along with the possibility of “free room and board” at a very undesirable address for a long period of time. That jail time can cause the loss of a job and separate you temporarily or even permanently from your family. Avoid the situation by avoiding that second drink. However, if you do have that second and maybe that third drink, PLEASE don’t drive. UBER or LYFT is just a click away! The life you save by doing this could be yours, your loved one, or someone else’s loved one. It is all about being that responsible lover!
Perhaps your high schooler has been impacted by a program called SHATTERED LIVES which dives into the aspects of what can happens with distracted driving which includes “drunk driving.” College Park High School Students were taught firsthand last week the lessons on drunk driving with staged accidents involving “bleeding students,” dead students, and parents writing and then reading obituaries of their children killed in these staged accidents. Even though, it was a staged, rehearsed action with first responders, DPS/Sheriff Officers, and students/parents, emotions ran very high. To see firsthand the impacts of drunk driving, I suggest you go to YOUTUBE to see SHATTERED LIVES at various local High School. I hope you do visit these videos and think twice about drinking responsibly. Be a hero and drive responsibly!