^that's exactly the problem, most people don't consider drinking and driving to be all that big of a deal. It's labeled as a misdemeanor crime, so people regard it as just an inconvenience they have to deal with if they get caught, which couldn't be further from the truth. I'd like to see any of these first tim offenders actually see one of their best friends dead in a hospital bed after being hit by a drunk driver. I wonder if they'd think they deserve a "light" sentece after they see his mom passed out after being told her only son was killed. Or how about going to his funeral, and just breaking down completely and sobbing so hard you can't even stand up. I wonder what they would say when 50 people go up to them asking why they haven't been in school for the past week, knowing there's no possible way to explain how much pain can be caused in a single second. I've been through that, which is why I'll never, ever agree that first time offenders should get any lighter a sentence than the second or third time offenders. The guy who killed one of my best friends was a first time offender. I wonder if anyone could look his parents, or me and my friends in the eye after that and exaplain why first time offenders should be let off with a slap on the wrist.
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What you've done becomes the judge of what you're going to do -- especially in other people's minds. When you're traveling, you are what you are right there and then. People don't have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road.
William Least Heat Moon, Blue Highways
Your toughest competitor lives in your head. Some days his name is fear, or pain, or gravity. Stomp his ass.
HOOKED ON THE WHITE POWDER
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