I teach AutoCAD (a computer-aided drafting program) at our local community college on Monday and Wednesday nights. One of my very regular students was missing tonight, which is out of the ordinary for him. Later in the evening, he showed up, with his mother helping him into the classroom. He had just gotten out of surgery at the hospital and was on his way home and wanted to stop by and explain his absence.
His forehead was lacerated, his right eye was blood-shot, his top front teeth were missing, and his bottom lip was split clean through and had Lord knows how many stitches.
He had just left the hospital where they put several pins in his right leg and ankle, so he was getting around on crutches.
As he explained, Wednesday night, on his way home from work, on a dark country road, he broad-sided a drunk driver who had run through an intersection with no lights on. This boy's car wound up in the ditch and was on fire, when a nearby resident ran over and cut him out of the wreck. The drunk driver had exited his own vehicle and ran from the scene, leaving him trapped there and dazed.
The day before Thanksgiving, this boy's mother had plenty to give thanks for. Her son, as badly injured as he was, lived to see another sunrise. I plead with those of you who find enjoyment in drinking alcohol; for the sake of all those mothers waiting for their young sons to get home from work, and for the sake of all of us teachers wondering where our young students are, PLEASE, don't drive if you have been drinking. If you must drink, be responsible and plan for another way to get home.
Another reason I'm in no hurry to get my son Aaron out there on the roads when we finish his project.
Just think about it,
Jerry