A Tough Lesson | Teen Ink

A Tough Lesson MAG

By Anonymous

It was the end of my junior year, the weekend before prom. I was riding around that night with some friends, and a bottle got passed around the car. Everyone was taking swigs. Then the bottle got to me. With it in my hand I thought, What will I do? I took a swig. That was the biggest mistake of my life – I had to drive home later that night.

We arrived at my friends’ house and watched a movie. About an hour later I asked them to bring me back to my car. Not thinking, I got in and drove off.

At a stop sign I realized a cop was sitting in the parking lot across the street. When I saw his headlights turn on, I knew he was going to follow me until I got home. About a mile from my house, the cop turned his light bar on. All I could think was, Oh no, that swig!

I pulled over and waited for him to come to my door. It felt like forever. “Can I see your license and registration, please, Miss?” He took them and went back to his car for a while. When he returned, he asked if I had been drinking.

“Yes sir,” I said. He asked me to step out of my car.

“Walk heel to toe down the white line, please.” I passed the test. Next he had me stand on my left foot and lift my right foot six inches off the ground, and hold it for thirty seconds. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not the most coordinated person. I can’t even walk and chew gum at the same time. So, needless to say, I didn’t do the best on that test. Then he had me look right while he shined a bright light in my eyes. I passed that one too. He then asked me to take a breathalyzer test.

That’s where I messed up. I told him I didn’t want to and didn’t understand why I had to. The officer asked me three more times, and I continued to refuse.

He told me to turn around and place my hands behind my back. I thought that he was going to pat me down, but I was wrong. All of a sudden I felt cold metal on my wrists. He arrested me right then and there. As I was sitting in the back seat of his car, all I could think was, God, I’m in so much trouble … my parents are going to kill me.

The cop drove me to a town twenty minutes from my home. Being arrested was so scary. The officers brought me into a little concrete room and asked me a bunch of questions. Then they called my parents and told them where I was and to come get me or they would take me to a children’s home until my court date. When my dad got there, I ran and gave him the biggest hug ever, and he whispered into my ear, “I love you so much. Everything will be okay. Let’s go home.”

If I had only known what would happen. The next week I got an attorney, and I went to court two months after that. I was charged with a refusal. I got $700 in fines, forty hours of community service, and had to attend a MADD meeting. I’ll be on probation for a year, and I have to take driver’s ed again. And I lost my license for a whole year!

This has been a huge learning experience for me. It opened my eyes to how easy it is to make a stupid decision. I want everyone reading this to know that it’s not right to drink and drive, and it definitely isn’t worth losing your license over.



Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 73 comments.


deepthi SILVER said...
on Aug. 1 2015 at 11:54 pm
deepthi SILVER, Karur, Other
5 articles 0 photos 10 comments
Its a tough lesson that everyone should follow in their lives for their welfare and good living.You have obviously taken a right step and this lesson is extremely useful.Thank you for sharing this article in this site.

on Mar. 22 2015 at 3:24 pm
caitopotatoe344, Wilbraham, Massachusetts
0 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
"You laugh at me because I'm different, I laugh at you because you're all the same."

Great story. It's a tough lesson unfortunately so many have to learn. Thankfully you are okay and well.

on Jul. 1 2014 at 11:27 pm
AlwaysInBeastMode GOLD, Suitland, Maryland
15 articles 0 photos 43 comments

Favorite Quote:
Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle.

This is an amazing and outstanding story I'm going to send this to my friend and maybe it will talk some sense into him. Thank You for sharing your story :)

on Aug. 5 2013 at 10:29 am
RelativetoWriting GOLD, Brecksville, Ohio
13 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes."
-Walt Whitman

A great story! Thank you for sharing. I know how easy it is to make a tiny mistake that send everything else flying to the ground. 

asofnow GOLD said...
on Mar. 8 2012 at 1:38 am
asofnow GOLD, Troy, Michigan
18 articles 0 photos 208 comments

Favorite Quote:
Nothing gold can stay ~ Robert Frost

Excuse my grammatical errors. I am typing this in the dark of the night. XP

asofnow GOLD said...
on Mar. 8 2012 at 1:37 am
asofnow GOLD, Troy, Michigan
18 articles 0 photos 208 comments

Favorite Quote:
Nothing gold can stay ~ Robert Frost

Life is just not fair sometimes, and one has gotta learn the lessons it offers. But some ppl learn the lessons even when they don't need to or even when they have learned the lesson a ton of times already. Some people get away with so much worse than this and therefore I find this punishment wholey unjsut. But I am really glad you learned a lesson from this experiance and chose to share it with us, so the wise ones can learn too.

on Nov. 21 2011 at 12:10 pm
Mortimer-Micheals-Jacob-Joyce GOLD, Edgar, Wisconsin
12 articles 0 photos 185 comments

Favorite Quote:
"And when I'm gone, just carry on, don't mourn
Rejoice every time you hear the sound of my voice
Just know that I'm looking down on you smiling
And I didn't feel a thing, So baby don't feel my pain
Just smile back"-Eminem

Which was my point...

on Nov. 19 2011 at 10:30 pm
PinkKitty BRONZE, Chambersburg, Pennsylvania
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
Good story, its good that you told the truth about drinking, but that much for refusing to take a breath test is stupid!!

byebye said...
on Nov. 19 2011 at 7:26 pm
byebye, Nevermore, Other
0 articles 0 photos 250 comments

If she had said she wasn't drinking, of course she wouldn't have been telling the truth! She was underaged and drank alcohol that day.

At least she was honest, and because of this she was able to learn a real lesson from the situation.


on Nov. 19 2011 at 12:29 pm
dolphinportkey7 GOLD, D, Other
12 articles 0 photos 65 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Because I knew you, I have been changed for good" AND "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"

That's not actually true. They do allow for a very small amount to be in the blood of a minor- something like .0025%, very low- because of alcohol taken for religious purposes, as in the Communion Services of Catholics, for example.

 

But still, any more than a sip would put you above that.


on Nov. 19 2011 at 10:39 am
onedirectionlover GOLD, Hampton, Virginia, Virginia
16 articles 3 photos 37 comments
That's kind of harsh for not just taking a breathlizer. Dang.

on Oct. 29 2011 at 5:36 pm
Victoria.S BRONZE, Dallas, Texas
4 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Someday you will look back and know exactly why it had to happen."

NO, it was a beautiful written article. I think that you did just fine! :)

FallibleAger said...
on Oct. 28 2011 at 11:31 pm
FallibleAger, SJ, California
0 articles 0 photos 10 comments
Cool story, interesting strory, but could have been written better... just my opinion.

on Oct. 6 2011 at 7:25 pm
Victoria.S BRONZE, Dallas, Texas
4 articles 0 photos 24 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Someday you will look back and know exactly why it had to happen."

Overall this is a very good piece of writing. Its good that you realized that it was a bad idea in the first place. Wow what a learning experience!

knvdnvknd said...
on Oct. 6 2011 at 12:21 pm
 dont get why are you drinking in the first place duhhhhhhh think!!!!

Jacobius said...
on Sep. 14 2011 at 12:28 pm
I'm not sure if you realize this, but she was under 18.  The legal limit for someone under 18 is 0.0000000000.  You cannot have ANY alcohol in your system if you are under the age of 18.  The penalty probably would have been less severe if she had taken the test, though.

on Aug. 1 2011 at 5:29 pm
lovetildeath GOLD, Virginia Beach, Virginia
10 articles 0 photos 34 comments

Favorite Quote:
I'm selfish, impatient, & a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of control, & at times hard to handle. But if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best.
- Marilyn Monroe

I would have been scared but you only took a swig and were under the legal limit.That sucks

Steph0804 said...
on Jul. 20 2011 at 12:58 pm
My mother would disown me - it's an Asian thing. You know, Confucius got all hyped up about family honor and spread the word until everyone from China to Korea started worshipping him.

on Jun. 18 2011 at 5:48 pm
RanaHewezi1998 SILVER, Ames, Iowa
5 articles 0 photos 63 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I've ended up where I needed to be."
-Douglas Adams

awwww its good u learned not 2 do that again n i don't plan 2 drink & drive ever!

yourshoes123 said...
on Apr. 13 2011 at 7:41 pm
HEY EVERYBODY. You all need to know that she didn't get arrested because she was drinking. She got arrested because she refused to take the breathanalyzer test. If you refuse, cops have every single right to arrest you, and they will. SO NEVER EVER REFUSE THE BREATH ANALYZER. If your blood is less than .08 intoxicated (one beer) you are fine, not legally drunk, and cops can't arrest you. NEVER REFUSE BREATHANALYZER TEST. i'm telling you the truth!!!!!