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Twelve years ago a drunk driver tried to kill me. I suffered a concussion that took me one year to recover physically and two years for my thinking process to recover. The jerry-curled kid was so out of it (weeks later) that he did not even think to apologize to me in court.
It took a year for me to be able to run effectively. My memory for names was better than anyone I ever met. Now my name memory is less than average. I meet a person and I forget his/her name within the conversation.
During the 80's, West Germany prosecuted DUIs involving death as premeditated murder. Several returning GIs and my older brother told me this.
Serious Conversation, in that you expressed no remorse (like the jerry-curled kid mentioned above), you need to get to AA as suggested by others. That is, if you can read this (as in if I am not on your ignore list).
I am grateful I survived my ordeal. It could have been much worse. There were other injuries, but the concussion was the worst. I was messed up for a very long time and did not realize how badly until after I began to recover. Those of you who experienced concussions know what I mean.
Hey, I made it to retirement! (forum related)
I think the OP mentioned his experience here because of his trust and esteem of many of you on the Retirement Forum.
Catch you guys and gals later. I will go home and this evening enjoy some Coors Light and RockandRoll within the sanctuary of my home.
I have zero remorse because I was arrested when, 99% of the time maybe, I could have gotten home fine. I was arrested randomly fueling my car. The stop in and of itself wasn't justified
Wow, what a totally ignorant post! Very disrespectful to the Law, Court, the Judge, and to your attorney! You should recognize that cases are decided based on the fact present and the prosecutions ability to present the case. The Judge ruled on your case. Not on your image or what you appeared to identify as. You should be very appreciative that your lawyers hard work at law school paid off for you this time.
You should be thankful you didn’t kill someone while being irresponsible and driving a vehicle while intoxicated!
The OP may come to this forum, because he's afflicted with F.S.D. (False Senescence Disorder). But that business about giving money to the judge's reelection fund, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The briber, as well as the bribee (the judge) committed an illegal act. At least he admits that it was privileged and exclusively available to those who are affluent. It doesn't have anything to do with a person's color, as corrupt practices can be found among any category of people.
The OP may come to this forum, because he's afflicted with F.S.D. (False Senescence Disorder). But that business about giving money to the judge's reelection fund, leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The briber, as well as the bribee (the judge) committed an illegal act. At least he admits that it was privileged and exclusively available to those who are affluent. It doesn't have anything to do with a person's color, as corrupt practices can be found among any category of people.
Everything the OP wrote is all based on an assumption. There are no facts and all hearsay. Unless the OP has solid proof of corruption (which he doesn’t) or can prove he the judge based his decision on image (which he cannot), this is just another baiting post which offends people.
With that being said I’m done with this thread and will happily go back over to the retirement forum.
thankfully, i didn't have to wait until retirement to figure out what my white privilege bought wholesale for me, with nary a thought, nor a hardship ever. I never could understand why the court system foolishly let's this insanity continue into this new millennium. seriously. i don't mean to sound harsh, but your thrill over your eureka-thank-the-gawds-above-i'm-a-pampered-white-boy moment sounds glib. I suggest you read the book Between The World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, find out the true meaning of having nothing between harsh reality and you. There should be nothing but an exacting punishment for people who choose to drive drunk. We all know it is wrong, be you black or white or red or yellow. It has nothing to do with skin color.
I have zero remorse because I was arrested when, 99% of the time maybe, I could have gotten home fine. I was arrested randomly fueling my car. The stop in and of itself wasn't justified
hmmm....public drunkeness . Yup its justifiable.
But your ego isn't justifiable, not here with us earthlings who have consideration when driving sober.
will say I am Thankful that you still have some years to come to terms with the magnitude of your "paying off the judge" to get a reduced charge. Had I been the judge I would have put you on community service where you had to be a care giver to an auto victim from a drunk driver or maybe let you visit the family who lost a family member to your act of intoxication while driving.
I have zero remorse because I was arrested when, 99% of the time maybe, I could have gotten home fine. I was arrested randomly fueling my car. The stop in and of itself wasn't justified
First, thank you for responding to my post. Now we have dialogue. Secondly, and I mean this most sincerely, I think you are in for a very heavy lesson that will be at great cost. I truly feel sorry for you, Serious Conversation. Good luck to you and those you hold dear.
See you back in the Retirement Forum where this thread started. Debate sections attract people who want to argue more than learn.
How often are you truly thankful for your circumstances?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Serious Conversation
I've had some significant things hit me over the last couple of weeks.
Multiple friends and guys I've looked up have been diagnosed with severe diseases. One person has a significant brain cancer. A bodybuilder I used to train with was diagnosed with ALS out of the relative blue. Another high school friend was diagnosed with another cancer. My mother is going to have a relatively major eye surgery to correct some issue from a previous cataract removal.
On the flip side of that, I'm a very fortunate man.
I got off with a relatively minor charge from a DUI where I blew well over twice the legal limit - nearly .20. I had to be .20 BAC when I left the bar - when I tested two hours later, I was .186. I was arrested while filling up the car with gas at a service station, and was flagged because I turned in at the truck entrance. Weird circumstance for a DUI, other than it was 1 AM.
The attorney was able to get a plea bargain for misdemeanor reckless endangerment, no license impact, and $450 fine and court costs. I've paid that off, and the county is discharging my probation. While it was an expensive lesson in attorneys, the attorney was worth his weight in gold.
I googled statistics on DUI plea bargains. The chance of getting my BAC to anything but DUI is less than 3%. My attorney, along with some iffy facts of my specific case, was able to get this plea-bargained. That was amazing to me.
I began to think about "white privilege." I was busted in a rural, drugged out, 95% white county. Guys with the public defender for first offense DUIs got state minimums, but no reduction in charge. By the standards of that community, I'm a well-off guy, and multiple inmates recommended that I hire the attorney I did if I could afford him. I could.
I've seen celebrities busted for DUI first offense, no damage, that got smacked a lot harder than I did. I blew over twice the legal limit, and have had basically no legal repercussions.
I got out of that DUI pit for basically being an upper middle class white guy with the right connections. My attorney advised me to make a $1,000 minimum donation to the general session's judge reelection campaign. I gladly did so. When a judge accepts a plea like that, you need to be a gentleman back
I've never felt my "white privilege" before this. When did you feel your white privilege as a retiree>
As an old white guy, I'm well aware of how fortunate I am in my circumstances. I've been to and worked in the 3rd world and seen what life is like for much of humanity and it isn't pretty. I thank my lucky stars on a regular basis that by mere accident of birth I'm a white male born in the USA.
While I've never had a DUI or other legal entanglement, I have no doubt that my white privilege has aided me in ways I'll never even be aware of.
This current atmosphere of "white grievance" that's gripped America is so far off base and disappointing to see. It really makes me wonder if those adhere to that viewpoint are truly as out of touch with reality as they seem to be.
I have zero remorse because I was arrested when, 99% of the time maybe, I could have gotten home fine. I was arrested randomly fueling my car. The stop in and of itself wasn't justified
Really?? That's what you learned out of all this? You don't feel at all embarrassed or guilty that you drove illegally intoxicated, at twice the legal limit as you mentioned at least once, and could have gotten home "99% of the time, maybe"? What about that other 1% of the time? That might be the time you kill an innocent person just driving along. That could have been this time, or next time. If you feel no remorse, you'll probably do it again, and sooner or later your luck will run out.
I'm not totally innocent here. I've done it in the past, and so has my OH. We have seen what has happened to others, both on the driving end, over $12K in costs (arrest, jail, bail, fines, traffic school costs, and potentially loss of job and income, etc), and on the victim's end...an entire family wiped out when the drunk crossed the center line and hit them head on at 70 mph. We do the designated driver thing now, and refuse to ride with anyone over the limit. Grow up and stop pretending you did nothing wrong. You were probably all over the road before you pulled into that station. You were just too drunk to know.
I believe that each of us are equal in value before our creator, and should be so before the law. I’ve believed that for a long time. But in many ways I’ve been oblivious to my white privelege. I had never considered myself priveleged—only lucky in a general way. But seeing videos of Black people continually being harassed for doing stuff I would do without a thought has turned my thinking around.
I had heard about the problem of “driving while Black” before, but I am seeing videos of this very thing frequently now.
The Ferguson unrest in St. Louis County, where I lived most of my life really hit home. I subsequently read how police pulled Black drivers over, did not warn, but ticketed the drivers for broken lights and other minor offences. And then municipal courts would make it as hard as possible for them to pay the fines. It was one horrifying revelation after another.
So, count me as one who understands better what being poor and Black is like. Of course I can’t possibly understand totally. But I get it better than I did.
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How often are you truly thankful for your circumstances?
