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AlanFromWichita
Guest
CC 2290 uses the words “excess” and “abuse.” I don’t know if this applies to one sip or not. I’m not against your main point, but we need to be careful when presuming to speak for God and using absolute terminology at the same time. After all, according to letter of what you wrote, after sipping the precious blood I could not drive home until I knew for sure that every molecule of it has been metabolized. What would that be, maybe, a couple hours after receiving, depending on my particular liver?
My nephew was hit by a car when he was 9. Now he is 33. He was struck in the crosswalk in front of his school. His head cracked the windshield. He was in a coma for around 10 days. He suffered permanent brain damage that was plainly visible on an x-ray, and now he can never drive himself because among the parts of the brain that were damaged were associated with learning from mistakes (tell him he cannot go forward after a stop at a red light and he’ll understand, but he might do the same thing at the next light) and with sequencing (like you signal and slow down, THEN you turn). Later he developed severe, chronic bipolar disorder.
The driver had the kind of insurance you get when nobody else will insure you, and it didn’t pay off squadiddly toward his medical costs.
Last night I had a chat with Eric. Last night he was too scared to sleep again. His mind plays tricks on him. He will never work at a job. He has no friends except dysfunctional ones he met in unhealthy ways, mostly women who befriend him and then get money from him or get him to steal some from his dad. He wants so much to be normal. He works so hard and even became Eagle Scout, but he will never drive or be able to support the family he so desperately wants. The house he’s been alone in since his dad (my only brother) died suddenly in July while Eric was out of the house. That haunts him. The house is now in foreclosure so he is not sure where he might live in another two months, and that of course scares him. His mother wrote to me yesterday that she doesn’t think he’s going to be able to last in that house until February when hopefully he will have a place to live.
How would you like to know that you were 100% responsible for a young person to be living like that?
But guess what? The driver who hit Eric was neither drunk nor on any drugs, prescription or not. Yes, they did test her. She was distracted. She had dropped a music tape on the floor and was reaching down to pick it up.
So really if we’re going to start spreading guilt around, let’s be fair about it. Insurance companies say that accident risk for cell phone users and drunk drivers are close to each other. People who sneeze can lose control, so if you’re prone to sneezing, stay off the road. People driving tired are a huge risk; I’d guess quite a bit larger risk than those who have had one sip of alcohol, but if I’m wrong show me the numbers and I will stand corrected. How about people driving alone with a baby in a car seat? Have you ever been in a tricky traffic situation when the baby starts screaming and throwing up? You haven’t lived until you’ve had that experience. We need to pass a law against driving with a child in a car seat unless there is another adult of certified youth to take care of it.
So let’s say everybody who drives with a baby, while talking on a cell phone, has not had at least 8 hours sleep during the last 24, or who has a condition that causes them to sneeze from time to time, should also bear the guilt we are talking about in CCC2900. Oh yeah, and of course no music tapes in the car unless they are in the trunk.
I’m not being flippant; I am totally sincere. Drunk driving is bad, but start becoming absolutist about it and you’ll end up beating one enemy who is already down, while others who are much stronger run amok.
Alan
