Opinion
I thought long and hard on what information should go into this letter. I finally decided talking about statistics was too impersonal for a crime that can have a devastating personal impact on the individuals involved, their friends and family.
Several years ago I was responsible for a stretch of highway that was located in the middle of nowhere, but was heavily traveled by people in our community to and from the coast.
On this particular evening there was a 19-year-old college student who was traveling from her parents' house back to the coast. Traveling on this same road was a 20-year-old man who had been at work all day and had stopped off at a friend's house for a couple beers.
As fate would have it these two lives crossed shortly after 9 p.m. in an event that would change their lives forever.
The young man was driving a pickup truck which crossed the center divider and hit this young lady head-on.
The young man was able to get out of his truck, but the young woman was pinned in her vehicle, which had caught on fire. Before emergency responders could put the fire out and remove her from the vehicle she had received third-degree burns over 95-percent of her body.
As a result of this encounter a young man – who by all accounts was a hardworking, good person – spent several years in prison for felony drunk driving.
When this young man talks how this incident affected his life, he does not talk about the time he spent in jail. He talks about having to live with the guilt of what he caused on a daily basis. He talks about what it was like to hear this young lady scream for help as her car burned and being helpless to do anything about it.
As for the young lady, she was transformed from a beautiful young college student who had her whole future in front of her to a person who faced years of surgery and skin grafts just to perform the daily routines we take for granted. Because of her injuries she would not be able to return to college, she could no longer bare children and the family she dreamed of appeared to be a distant reality.
When she talks about this incident she talks about her college dreams, her aspirations for a career and the fact she will never have children of her own. Her parents talk about the beautiful young woman she was becoming and the hopes and dreams they had for her. This incident impacted the friends and family on both sides as well as having a devastating impact on our community.
What I want people to think about is not the criminal consequences of drinking and driving but the emotional impact this one impulsive decision can have on the ones you love. All of our choices have consequences; make sure the choices you make are ones that you can live with.
Clearlake Chief of Police Allan McClain is a member of TEAM DUI, a group of local agencies and individuals who are battling underage drinking and drunk driving.
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- Written by: Allan McClain
Benazir Bhutto set herself up for martyrdom when she returned to Pakistan from exile in Britain. Other than staying in Britain, the only way Bhutto could have stayed alive is if President Gen. Pervez Musharraf had successfully maintained his emergency rule or kept Bhutto under house arrest.
"Against my will, as a last resort, I had to impose the emergency in order to save Pakistan," Musharraf said. "A conspiracy threatened to destabilize the country.” I believed him.
Musharraf said he acted, in part, to ward off political chaos that would hobble Pakistan's efforts against Islamic extremism. He was correct on all accounts. But, the U.S. pressured Musharraf to reinstate constitutional rule and restore the judiciary.
The result is that now Benazir Bhutto is dead and U.S. leaders are setting her up as a martyr for democracy.
I don’t presume to know everything about Pakistan’s situation, but I’m very interested and deeply concerned. I have friends there.
I consulted in Lahore, Pakistan, for Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.). In 1996, I was the lone Westerner on a team of Levi’s Asian employees building business relationships with fabric makers and clothing sewers. Team employees dubbed me “their Connie Chung.”
We worked together for 18 months, meeting first in San Francisco and Singapore, and then spending a week each in Indonesia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Korea, and Lahore, Pakistan. The manufacturers we met with in Lahore sewed Dockers knit shirts.
Business in Asia begins after people get to know one another. Personal relationships are primary. And, they last a lifetime.
My Muslim friend is Zahid, a former LS&Co. colleague who invited me to his home for dinner and to meet his wife, mother, children, and extended family. He has traveled to the U.S. several times to visit his American relatives in Texas.
My Christian friend, Akbar, was the butler in the hotel where I stayed. When he married, he sent me a photo of him and his new wife in their wedding finery. His family faces continual financial hardships because of their religion. His employment is sporadic. He writes, “Please pray to God for our Difficult time.”
Now, more than ever, I will keep these kind and good people, Muslims and Christians, in my thoughts and prayers in the days ahead.
The terrorist extremists are down out of the mountains in Pakistan.
Susanne La Faver lives in Hidden Valley Lake.
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- Written by: Lake County News Reports
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