That night/day I spent in jail, knowing that I put myself there, being thankful that nobody got hurt, and processing all of the changes that I had to make to not go back. 15+ years and so far, so good. Not the worst rock bottom story, but everyone has a different threshold for personal responsibility and accountability.
what did you do?
Day 3 of a binge, I decide to go solo fishing trip in an area that I wasn't as familiar with as I had thought.
I had been drinking vodka all day, and was still working on a bottle. I lost track of time and it started getting dark, and a storm was rolling in.
The storm was pretty bad, and I got lost trying to get around the lake to my hotel.
That is what I remember with clarity, but I just have flashes of the shit that comes next. I know I ended up in a ditch, and went to a house for help. I think that they were pretty cool and we going to let me sleep it off. I distinctly recall seeing a picture of their daughter and telling them that she was beautiful. For some reason, I can still remember that picture. I passed out for a bit, wile, thanked them, and went back to my truck. I passed back out again, and was awoken by the gentle tapping from a State Patrol Officer.
Cops were decent, I knew I had fucked the pooch, and things went like they do. I was put in a 12 hour hold and shuffled into the county jail. The guys in the jail were cool and didn't give me any shit. They get to see this shit a lot, I suppose, so they rolled me some cigs made from chew dried on the radiator and strips of yellow legal pad. I watched them play shuffle board with an empty Kodiak tin and "the broom". It was easy to get distracted by their pluck and resourcefulness, I kept returning to the reality of my situation, why I was there, and what I had to do to not return. Those were pretty easy questions to answer, but I had no clue what the repercussions were going to be, how my family would react, lost future opportunities, and if I could convince my now-wife to not do the sensical thing and leave.
In the end, I turned out to be a lucky sumbitch and got the absolute minimal possible "sentence". I had already taken steps to address the issue by the time the court date rolled around, and I was otherwise a good citizen (from a legal standpoint). Contrition goes a long way. I regularly attended AA meetings well beyond any court mandate, but eventually outgrew the program and have just existed as a "guy that doesn't drink".
What exactly were you charged with and what happened to the boat?
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