One For the Road

My trips into the big smoke, living in a small town, the contrast is amazing, we have no taxis and no bus service, the nearest bar is a 25 kiliometer round trip, as such I rarely drink except at home with company or on my little boat on a nice day........

But my trips into big medicine town is a little different, nothing more pleasurable than running rocks on the felt or tipping a glass over a barbecued sockeye and yorkshire pudding(thanks Neil) at friends, so now bring on this new drinking driving law, as a large person, 6 feet and 235lbs I could easiliy consume several without blowing anywhere near 0.5  But in my distant past,  my generation, it was different, it was wrongly accepted, the police would pull you over and say slow down and drive safe, as long as you weren`t staggering and falling down you were told to carry on, .......

Bars like the Eldorado, the American hotel, the Admiral, Lougheed hotel, the Biltmore, strip bars with large full parking lots, bikes and trucks and beaters galore, you weren`t drunk if you could pay your bill and still walk out, sometimes crawl out, my generation took full advantage, 10 cents for a glass of beer, terry towel table cloth covers and order em by the 10s....Yee haw, let`s go cruising, I was lucky, no accidents, I could drive straight as an arrow with ease, an acquired gift, a knack, no, high tolerance to alcohol, but that was a long time ago, decades ago, crowded roads and too much road carnage for that same reality to exist today, ......It`s not easy for my generation, we had no facebook or internet, we didn`t tweet or even phone each other, we got together for human contact, the booze joints, the pool hall, the Kegs and Sir loiners, the legions and neighborhood pubs, ......Times change.....Times must change.....

We had an olympic party, tens of thousands of drunks making asses of themselves partying in the street, no one drove drunk, well almost no one, the BC Liberal MLA Jane Thornthwaite drove while plowed over....

So the hst shit hits the fan, restaurants and food joints take a hit, bring in the new booze law, 0.5 and you get big fines, lose your car, a huge headache of hoops to jump through, the public pulled back big time, worse than the hst, this new booze law was cutting into the gravy of the food industry, there are empty bars, barren eateries, lonely parking lots, two things are happening simultaneously, people are going for food only, dine and dash with no booze, instead of a few glasses of wine and cocktails its dinner with water, booze is consumed at final destinations, the blow to the industry is crushing........

So to my amazement John Les(The disgraced one) was on Bill Good today promoting the HST when he blurted out that the Government was going to re-look at the new drinking driving penalties, John Les talked of police officers playing choose me, choose me game and be more selective with impoundments and road side suspensions....

I was flabbergasted, which cars that have drivers at 0.5 and 0.6 and 0.7 does he let carry on down the highway, when is law subject to discretion, .......The law can`t work, drivers, ladies, men, seasoned drivers, empty stomachs, wet roads, dark damp icy streets, which drivers, who wins the lottery, who drives head long into the obit column.......

So on my trips into the big smoke, I pick up a few beers and a little irish creme(I have a sweet tooth)....We eat drink and be merry, we talk, argue and live life, good food, good friends and the latest news stories and political gossip, we don`t drive, we walk, we taxi, we have a designated straight driver(s), and you know what, all my friends are doing it, the public is ready for the new law, my friends have more money, lots more money, no bars no Keno, no texas hold-em, no pull tabs, no huddling out on a sidewalk having a smoke, yes I have many friends who smoke, my generation smoked too....

So my group doesn`t drink and drive, their saving money, keno is on the computer, I will never give the mounties money for seat belts, cell phone use, speeding, drinking, I  toe the line....That genie can`t be put back in the bottle, I was amazed by John Les talking, he`s not even a minister, but later today Solictor General Rich Coleman confirmed what John Les said....The B.C. government is squirming to find an exit stategy from this one, ....

Rich Coleman talked about a couple to a few glasses of wine with dinner, Coleman talked about education, what Coleman was talking about is hogwash....Like I said earlier, some people can drive like pros while gassed, other petite ladies could be bombed on one glass of wine, an empty stomach, someone who like me drinks rarely, once a month, what about liquor reacting to medications, there is no hard and fast guideline but one...Blow 0.5 and above and pay dearly, the gall of Coleman to suggest police officers pick and choose who pays and who doesn`t......

The B.C. Liberals are getting heavy pressure from the elites of the world, from the bar and restaurant owners, the head of the restaurant association was on with Christy Clark today, he asked the Province(BC Government) to return to the old drinking driving rules...I was shocked, the same day Carole Berner was in court hearing impact statements from crushed family members Rich Coleman/ Christy Clark/ John Les/John Macolm and the restaurant association are howling for the removal of these new penalties and a return to casual drinking and driving laws of yore......

Carole Berner is exactly the type of person the restuarant industry want back, in the sting operation against Carole Berner on hidden camera she admitted to having three glasses of wine before driving, a rural road, driving too fast, a little girl, a grandmother, a horse and horrific tragedy, a couple of glasses of wine and one for the road, what will Coleman do, announce we are returning to the lax drinking driving laws, the old laws, political suicide, can you picture the restaurant ad campaign, have a few drinks at lunch, do it for the economy!

It`s too late for that, no Government can undo that law, suck it up restaurant industry, you supported Campbell, you rallied to keep minimum wage frozen, I cry you no river, the law will not be reversed, the public will never return to that level of drinking and driving, the public have learned to enjoy a meal without the cheap booze and heavy bill, your food and price will have to draw your customers, casinos, BC lotteries, bars, restaurants will all get hammered, and we get to blame it all on the HST....

One for the road, the first thing to go is judgement, two to good friends, three turns to four and five turns upside down in the ditch...My ex lost her parents at age 5 to a drunk driver, I lost several friends and relatives to sauced up drivers, time to move on, any BC Liberal wannabe leader who flip flops on the new drinking penalties will seal their fate in history.....One death is too many, whose daughter won`t make it home tonight, what paramedic will have to scrape brain matter off the windshield.......Who will receive that phone call at 4:00AM

The Straight Goods

Cheers-Eyes Wide Open