A bad nightmare

Friday night I went out with some friends to a gathering at her house for a wine tasting party. The night started off really well. The weather was amazing it was hot but with a cool breeze, everyone was in a good mood and it was the start of our long weekend for Canada Day.

I had a couple drinks of wine and knew I was beginning to feel a bit tipsy. Not the type of tipsy where your unaware of your surroundings, but just enough to make you smile like an idiot for no reason at all.

I stopped drinking after a while and just began talking to my friends about completley random things. Before I knew it, it was 12 am. I felt perfectly fine and made a (poor) judgement that I was good to drive. In my defence, I did not feel drunk at all.

I headed to my car and put the radio on as I pulled out of the driveway. I turned the corner to go towards the highway ramp where I saw a hold up and bright lights. Shit, it's the R.I.D.E Program.

I pull over to the officer who asks me if I had been drinking. Without thinking, I immediately admit that I had one drink earlier. He asks for me to breathe into his face and I do as I'm told. In that moment I wish I had been chewing gum.. The look on his face scared me. Uh Oh, I'm in shit. I had no time to filter my thoughts or to gather my wits. I was told to park my vehicle and then follow the officer into the R.I.D.E trailer. I walked into the trailer which was filled with many young adults. There was the typical nonchalant I'm-not-guilty-so-I-don't-give-a-fuck guy and then there were the girls who were sobbing and couldn't even breathe, too make matters worse, they were screaming.

Surprisingly, I wasnt scared, worried or shocked. I just didnt care for some reason. I had a calmness that came over me, which til this day I dont know what it was. I was asked to breathe into a device and I did as I was told. Fuck, whats it going to read? But Im not even drunk, it was only 2 glasses of wine is what runs through my head. Without having a chance to get myself together, Im told to stand up and I do as Im told. The officer turns me around and handcuffs me. Wtf? Im being treated like a convict! this is so un fair. Is this really happening? A part of me also wants to laugh, I find it way too surreal. The officer read me my rights and told me I was under arrest for blowing over 80. I just nodded my head and looked down. He asked if I wished to speak to a lawyer and I explained to him that I had not been in such a predicament before and that I do not have a lawyer. He asks me to speak with legal aide.

I go into this metal boothe and Im told to not touch the phone until it rings. Sounds like a sketchy drug deal you see in a movie. Regardless of the situation Im in I couldnt help but to think stupid thoughts in my head. The phone rings and theres a lawyer on the other end of the phone "Ok, you will be out of there in about 45 minutes. Do not provide any blood or urine samples. Do you understand?" I said yes. He then proceeded to tell me more but I couldnt understand or hear anything he was saying because of all the distruption going on in the trailer. I got nervous and just hung up.

When I got out, the officier sat down and told me I had to take another test. Which, I failed. I gotta say though, the officiers were very very nice to me. They removed my handcuffs and told me that this is not something they normally do but they are doing it for me because I am cooperating and making their job easier. I smiled and thanked them. I had to wait 15 minutes before my next test so I engaged in a conversation with the officer. We talked about his job, basketball and his family. He was so kind, and I could tell that he felt bad for how my situation went down. I dont blame the guy, hes just doing his job.

In a sense. I'm kind of glad I got caught, who did I think I was? What if I hit someone? What if I took someone's life? That is not something I could ever live with. I could live with a DUI which I could potentially fight off.

Anyways, couple minutes later I did my second test and failed. I wasnt suprised. After all, only 15 minutes had passed. I wasnt sad or shocked. I just kind of went with it. I got to call my family and tell them what happened. I called My Dad, Mom, Brothers and Brothers GF in that exact order. I had to wait for someone to pick me up, and I had about 30 minutes to kill.

I continued talking to the officer, who was giving me some advice regarding my allergy medication I was on at the time I was drinking. We shared some jokes and tried to make light of the situation.

Long story short, I got dropped back home. Slept. Woke up the next morning and thought "FUCK, it wasn't a dream."