At the Top of His List of Things To Do

[billroper]

And the report is in from the police on the death of Cardinals pitcher Josh Hancock. He was drunk, with a blood alcohol content of about twice the legal limit. He had marijuana and a pipe in the car, although they haven't yet done the blood work to determine whether he'd been using that as well. He was talking on his cell phone. And he wasn't wearing his seat belt.

In one of my favorite quotes from M*A*S*H, Colonel Potter goes off on the staff for "putting be stupid at the top of your list of things to do today". Apparently, it was at the top of Hancock's list that night.

Damn.

Comments

[jcbemis.livejournal.com]

yup.

[vixyish.livejournal.com]

Jesus. It's like an Onion article.

[madfilkentist]

And according to the police report, he'd said on the phone that he was on his way to another bar.

[purpleranger.livejournal.com]

Does all of this qualify him for a Darwin Award? He does appear to have committed stupidity above and beyond the call of duty.

[poltr1]

Yup. "Damn." is right, Bill. :(

Despite the best efforts of MADD, and the PSAs that air on radio and TV, there are people out there who still insist on driving drunk.

[singlemaltsilk.livejournal.com]

*le sigh*

The legal limit here (and where Hancock died) is a BAC of .08; sadly, JUDGEMENT IMPAIRMENT BEGINS AT .02. (why, yes, I do work in the alcohol and drug abuse field....)

The problem is not that so many people put 'be stupid' at the top of their to-do lists, it's that they rarely put 'be smart' up there. And they don't learn how to be smart (other than the hardline 'don't drink and drive', which many dismiss out-of-hand as either too impractical or too Draconian) until they've already gotten a DUI. Or they never learn, because they die in the accident. The number of people killed or maimed in alcohol-related accidents who've never before received a DUI is, pardon the expression, staggering.

I never drink and get behind the wheel, period. But it's my opinion that if you drink alcohol at all, you ought to seriously consider taking an alcohol risk education class. Having a realistic grasp of the true physiological effects of alcohol, knowing your REAL limits, and understanding precisely how to manage your BAC are all valuable, potentially life-saving tools.