Went out yesterday morning with some friends and got 18 holes of golf in on a gorgeous spring day. When we were done, we stopped at the country club to have a few beers(I had 3 MIch Ultras), get something to eat and watch the end of the Pirate game. Left the clubhouse around 4:30 or so. Driving home(about 15 miles), the sun was gorgeous. The apple and cherry blossums were out. The ridges were turning green. I was so relaxed and at peace with the world. Little too relaxed I guess. About two miles from home, I dozed off and found myself going off the road into a roadside ditch. Couldn't extricate myself so I got out of the car. Some guy was running down the road asking me if I was okay. "Sure" I said. "No problem". Got on my AT&T cell phone and called roadside service. Suddenly I hear fire whistles blowing. Fire trucks show up with about 6 or 8 fire rescue and fire police. Sirens like the world was coming to an end. My car was off the road and not blocking any traffic. I asked the one fire police guy what the big deal was about. I told him that a wrecker should be there in 20 minutes or so. He gets really irritated and says, "You can't be towed out...the state police have been called"
I looked at him quizzingly and said, "I didn't call the police". He stumbled around for some words and said something about the fire police were dispatched so the state police have to investigate. "I didn't call the fire department", I said. Obviously at a loss for words, he just walked away.
In short the state police arrived about 10 minutes later. The officer gets out of his car, walks over to me, looks at me and says, "You don't look smashed."
"I'm not," I said quietly. He proceeded to ask me for my license, registration, ins, etc. He then asked me a few questions, then tells me he wants to give me a breathalizer test. "Sure," I said. He gets out his apparatus and tells me to blow hard into it. I do as he asks. So I'm blowing hard into this thing and he tells me I'm not blowing hard enough and he gets obviously irritated. He removes the breathalizer from my mouth examines it, and sheepishly says, "Oh, this plastic piece is broken. It won't work like this." So he goes back to his police cruiser and gets another breathalizer. I repeat the process. When it's done(about 15 seconds), he takes it out of my mouth, looks at it, looks up at me and in an almost apologetic way and says, "Well, I can't arrest you for drunk driving. You're no where near the .08 you need to be." It was almost like he was upset that he couldn't arrest me, AND he wanted me to agree with him.
Beware...beware guys. These police are out looking to make DUI arrests. There are people out there trying to make themselves look important by lying to police in an attempt to have someone thrown in jail and there are police out there salivating at the chance to claim a collar.
I looked at him quizzingly and said, "I didn't call the police". He stumbled around for some words and said something about the fire police were dispatched so the state police have to investigate. "I didn't call the fire department", I said. Obviously at a loss for words, he just walked away.
In short the state police arrived about 10 minutes later. The officer gets out of his car, walks over to me, looks at me and says, "You don't look smashed."
"I'm not," I said quietly. He proceeded to ask me for my license, registration, ins, etc. He then asked me a few questions, then tells me he wants to give me a breathalizer test. "Sure," I said. He gets out his apparatus and tells me to blow hard into it. I do as he asks. So I'm blowing hard into this thing and he tells me I'm not blowing hard enough and he gets obviously irritated. He removes the breathalizer from my mouth examines it, and sheepishly says, "Oh, this plastic piece is broken. It won't work like this." So he goes back to his police cruiser and gets another breathalizer. I repeat the process. When it's done(about 15 seconds), he takes it out of my mouth, looks at it, looks up at me and in an almost apologetic way and says, "Well, I can't arrest you for drunk driving. You're no where near the .08 you need to be." It was almost like he was upset that he couldn't arrest me, AND he wanted me to agree with him.
Beware...beware guys. These police are out looking to make DUI arrests. There are people out there trying to make themselves look important by lying to police in an attempt to have someone thrown in jail and there are police out there salivating at the chance to claim a collar.
