So Thursday night my friend and I were leaving a party after having a few drinks. I was driving, of course, and the next thing you know, I'm pulled over and doing a variety of sobriety tests. The breathalyzer said my BAC was .113. My friend's was even worse. The cop slapped handcuffs on me and off to jail I went. Yes, I went to jail and received an OWI (operating while intoxicated). While it was not the worst experience I've ever been through, it was no pleasant experience. I didn't even get booked until around 4:30-5:00 in the morning and then they put me in the holding cell with just a mat to sleep on. I was with two other girls (luckily they were very nice) and we had no blankets to sleep with. It was freezing cold. My bail was $112.00 and I wasn't allowed to be released until at least 10:00 in the morning. I had to call one of my close friends to bail me out and he didn't get there until noon, so I spent 10 hours in jail. He had to take me home, as my car was impounded. Telling my mom was the worst thing... she was so disappointed. Luckily, she's been in this kind of trouble before, so she's willing to help me in any way. Getting my car out of the impound was $201.00 and I'm going to court this Thursday to see what kind of fines and punishments I'm getting slapped with. I'm most likely going to lose my license, and in the long run, I'm probably going to have to pay over $2,500.00 in fines to the state of Michigan. Not to mention I'm not going to be able to celebrate my 21st birthday that comes in less than a month. Was it worth it? No way.
This was definitely a wake-up call, though. I've decided that it's time to put partying on hold, at least for awhile. This is a time to get my life in order, to figure out how I'm going to get through this. I know my friends will be there for me always, and my family has already been such a help. Although this is a horrible ordeal, I can only see it as a blessing... a blessing in disguise. It has opened my eyes to the dangers of what I've been doing since I was 16 years old. It has also made me see that maybe this is the time to start getting healthy again... to quit drinking, to quit smoking, to start working out at least 3 or 4 times a week. College for me starts again tomorrow morning and this would be a wonderful opportunity to throw myself into my studies and to come out on top. No matter what, I will NOT let this bring me down.
Advice of the day: Even in a bad situation, there's always a positive side, even if you can't see it yet.
Learn from your mistakes. Find the optimism in a pessimistic situation. Look on the bright side of things. Find ways of bettering yourself. Believe me, this is what makes you strong. Strength is the most important factor of surviving this rollercoaster ride called life. So although this may slow my life down a little, it will not stop it completely. I'm still living, still breathing, and will continue to do so no matter what it takes.
Song of the day: Any song that helps you get through the bad times.
10 comments:
courtney,
little lady if you learn from this you are ahead of the game, it's one of those things a lot of us go through, and you are pretty and bright. me and bess, we bet on you.
at school you are gonna party some so git a fren to drive.
hugs
Im glad you didnt kill your friend.
kind of almost had my hopes up when you said you'd be holding off the partying, then you slipped in the , for awhile part:(
My advice, keep partying hard !!
just bring a pillow and crash in the backseat. Its better the in a ditch. 3 cold drunk babes in a cell, you say? I think i saw that once :p
Hope you commit to your decision. It's definitely tough when you're that age to see past the short term, but the short term will eventually tern into the long term... which (if not controlled) can have brutal consequences.
Try to look through "their" eyes... those you will hurt. Often times, looking through our own lenses isn't strong enough to make us change paths.
Good luck!
this happened to me a few months before my 20th birthday, and i'm still not on my full license (i'm 22). penalties in australia dont sound as harsh though. i drove drunk because i really wanted to get away from a party, so now i just make sure if i'm partying it's only with people i like!
do not kill your friend sis... lmao... like your words here :)
I've read a few of your posts So I'm making a general comment about your whole blog.
I love your optimism!
Reading your blog is like watching The Wonder Years! And that was a damn good show!! You are the blogging version of Kevin, only prettier! All you need now is a kick ass theme tune and you'll be set!
I'm going to follow you because I like your style!! Keep up the great blogging and best of luck in your life!!
I'm sure the arrest seemed like an ordeal, but that's nothing compared to what could have happened. A young person recently went to prison for driving drunk and killing a mom and her kids. Thank God this didn't happen to you.
For your sake (as well as the other drivers on the road), I'm glad you got the wake-up call. I hope you continue to listen to it. Take care and good luck!
Totally agree that you should look at the positives in this situation, and well done for doing so, it's so easy to fall into the trap of getting yourself down.
Make sure you keep going on this route in life, stay positive, and things will never appear as bad as what you think.
Liking your blog and will follow from across the water in sunny England!
http://thedailybanksy.blogspot.com/
Good for you deciding to "clean up" your act and tone down the partying. There's ways around actually violating your probation (if that's what you end up with, anyways), although they're rather ill-advised. My best advice is to just use the judgment you would if you were running for public office and didn't want to mar your image. :) Just my opinion, your mileage may vary. Best of luck to you from another Michigander!
Thank you! A very eye-opening blog! I'll be following.....
Peace to you and yours...
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