I just gotta know...

Absolutely. It would suck if she stopped talking to me, though.

 

Me thinks he thinks therefor I do, too.

 

i have read that truck stops are makeing drivers that are geting fuel pay first are give them a fuel card or cash. my question is, are drivers still useing com checks for fuel and do they haft to get them oked be for getting fuel befor they pull up to the pumps.

 

Okay........ try taking your "logic" a little further......... this person has been caught driving under the influence at least 6 times..........

In your little corner of the universe...... exactly how many times does he have to be caught driving drunk for it to not be acceptable?

7, 8, 10, 15?

Or.......... is your requirement that he actually kill someone first?

Where do YOU draw the line?

Where do ALL OF YOU draw the line? How many times would be "too many?"

So, you believe that people's prior actions should not be taken into account when determining their competency or accountability?

It sounds like you are implying that I made a blanket statement about never breaking any law in existence?

I think we are talking about drunk driving here........ and I think my statement was fairly clear.........let me go check...... yes, I believe I was clear in my statement....... not to mention, my comment was directed specifically at the assertion that I might not have the moral grounds to make these assertions on this particular topic.

I would have to drive drunk to "get caught"...... and since I have never done so...... it would be impossible for me to have been caught.

I can assure you that my questionable habits in no way threaten the lives and happiness of innocent men, women, children and families.

You honestly believe a tired or sick driver is the equivalent to a drunk driver?

I drive drunk people home in my vehicle at least 5 times a month..... sometimes as many as 10......... this is something I do on a regular basis.......... and I have been doing it for too many years to count .........

If you do not know how impared a persons judgement and coordination are when they are under the influence of alcohol..... then I don't even know what to tell you....

No, you are wrong here......... "everybody" does not endanger the lives of others REPEATEDLY.....

And I bet he was sorry after the first DUI and recognized his mistake.

Oh yeah....... but then he did it again. I bet he was really sorry the second time and swore he would never do it again.

But then, there was that third time. I bet he begged the judge to forgive him on that one..... he probably even stayed sober for a while.

Then there was the fourth and the fifth........

And everything was going great until he had some family issues or personal problems, he was tired and frustrated, and maybe even hungry and lonely........ so he picked up a beer again....... that was the sixth time......

So, are you going to forgive him after the seventh? how about the eighth?

Are you honestly telling me that if your children or wife or parents were killed by a drunk driver who was driving a big truck after having six DUI's on his record........ you would not be absolutely outraged?

 

I love it when you boys use endearing terms sarcastically......... just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy...........

Lurch, sweetie......... I would like to be able to say that I would make a special consideration for you because I enjoy our time together so much....... however, that is not how I approach issues of a serious nature.

Now........ that being said..... I believe some people may have overlooked some of what I had to say:

As you can see above........ I can accept the fact that driving once would be a mistake, and I can even go to twice without losing sleep...... but when we get to the third offense....... I draw the line.

I will not apologize for being a three strikes person....... this is a trait (or belief or approach) I carry over in many aspects of my life.......... I have strong convications but I am also quite compassionate....... everyone makes mistakes........ no problem...... some people are even a little slow and repeat their stupidity a second time before it sinks into their thick skulls......... but when someone undertakes to do an unacceptable act a third time, after being confronted for the same action on two prior occassions......... I have no further tolerance....... when that mistake puts peoples lives, health and happiness in jeopardy...... you have to start thinking about whose rights matter more....... the individual making the bad decisions........ or all the innocent people being put in harms way?

So it is conceivable that after being arrested 1, 2 or even 3 times....... you would have realized that you had a problem and taken some corrective action?

In fact, you managed to realize you had an issue without ever being arrested...... can you imagine going through the entire legal process 6 times?

Why is it so wrong to say enough is enough?

 

I do not stop talking to people because they do not agree with me.

If I did that I would have no one on the planet to talk to.

Was I unclear on what I was asserting?

I thought I made a statement that I was, in fact, morally qualified to "cast the first stone" on this particular issue.

When did we go global?

Must be the heart thing...... and to think, some people think I don't have one.

(For the record, I have actually lead a quite pleasant, uneventful, charmed, (albeit ironic and humorous) life..... most, if not all, of my issues and difficulties are unfortunately, but undoubtedly self-inflicted)

I just don't believe that anyone has the right to say "What I want to do is more important that someone else's life."

I am no ones keeper. Don't think your life is worth anything? Go drink yourself to death. Go overdose on drugs. Go do whatever you want to do, to yourself, as far as I am concerned.......... Just do not have the audacity to think that you have the right to decide that someone else's life does not matter.

There has to be a line drawn somewhere between a mistake..... and the blatant disregard for the rights/lives of others.

 

Not so, my dear Storyteller!
For you'd ALWAYS have me,
Shakey AfterShock, to talk to.

Not to me.
I caught right on.
But I'm a highly educated high-school dropout with a GED.
Ergo I should be able to figure that out.

SaY WhaT?!
How can they miss it?

If that don't make ya think --- I don't know what would.

 

Hmmm, Storyteller, I think I need to think on this. Addiction is a disease...you are a lucky woman...I will reply later....

 

In that case, let me give you some more ammunition.......

Addiction is a disease........ I do know where you are going with this ... and I have no desire to do a long drawn out tirade on personal responsibility........ a trait that I believe is sorely lacking in our society.....

But addictions fall in the same category as smoking caused emphysema versus a brain tumor........

One victim made choices that lead to their condition while the other did not. There is a lot to be said for that fact.

As for thinking I am lucky....... luck has very little to do with it. I have had to deal with many things in my life...... but I have always, always taken the approach that there are others who have to deal with so much more....... and I refuse to have a pity party for myself when there are people in this world who have had to live through unimaginable pain and suffering. Just not happening here........

So if you want to take this to a slightly more personal level..... let me ask you this....... if a person comes from a large family full of "addictive personalities"...... where almost everyone either drinks, does drugs, gambles, shops, diets, works, etc... to an excess..... does that somehow make it okay to become an addict yourself?

Addictions like alcohol do not become diseases without personal choice coming into play.

Need an example? I did party (very heavily) when I was a teenager. But I fairly quickly realized the effect it had on me* and I knew it was not something I needed in my life.... I have not had a drink of alcohol since I was 17 years old .... and I made that decision when I was basically only a child...... and if you think it was an easy one, you would be mistaken.....but that decision was based the core belief system that I still live by today.

On the other hand, according to the disease approach... I could have chosen to ignore the warning signs, continued making bad choices, became an alcoholic, and put other people's lives in jeopardy because of my own weakness.... but it would have been okay... because really, by that point, I would have had a disease.....right?

Sorry, not in my little corner of the universe.

If I had the strength and wisdom as a child to make the right decision.... then why should I have to accept anything less of another human being?



(*For me drinking lead to blacking out.... and the practical implication of that, as a former teen wild child, is now there are more than a few men out there (some who are even still friends of mine) that know a whole lot more about me than I remember about them. But hey.... as I figure it, they remember me with a killer 16-17 year old body....and a heck of a lot of enthusiasm.... so it's all good....lol.....live and learn.... live and learn)

 

Do I understand you correctly?

Are you giving me permission to talk as much as I want to?

Oh..... Shakey..... you ARE a very, very brave man!

Common sense cannot be taught.....
Oh....... and there is nothing common about it!

Just jumping up and down on the soapbox in my little corner of the galaxy......

It's a big universe...... and there are plenty of soapboxes to go around..... but then, of course, I like to think mine is made up of some fairly high quality wood......

As Socrates said....

An unexamined life is not worth living