What would you do…if your driver’s license was revoked, you needed to travel 600 miles to your brother’s wedding—and you have alcoholic biochemistry? (TAR Lite # 29)
Would you…
1. Ask a good friend to drive you?
2. Take the bus?
3. Thumb a ride?
4. Put your small dog on your backpack, some beer and a pistol into your saddlebag, mount your horse and start riding?
Congratulations if you selected # 4, because that’s what Patrick Schumacher, 45, did. After riding 100 miles from Larkspur to Boulder, Colorado, Schumacher was found wandering in and out of traffic, forcing pedestrians off the sidewalk and allegedly hitting his horse. He told officers called to the scene that he was traveling to Bryce, Utah to attend his brother’s wedding. When asked why he was traveling by horse, he responded that his driver’s license had been revoked (no need to ask why).
After spending the night in jail, Schumacher was released and continued his journey (on horseback) to Grand Junction, Colorado, where he, his horse and his dog got a ride to Bryce. He made it just in time to see his brother get hitched.
Absurdly, Schumacher is not happy that he has to return to Boulder to defend himself against charges of animal cruelty and “riding” under the influence. He claims he doesn’t remember hitting his horse and that he only drank three beers. Since he blew a .151 percent on the breathalyzer, he drank a lot more than three beers (if he weighs 200 pounds, he drank about two six-packs over six hours). As discussed in Alcoholism Myths and Realities*, he may have been in a blackout and wouldn’t remember hitting the horse or, for that matter, much else about the ride. Hopefully, the pain of an RUI (“riding” under the influence) will get him clean and sober.
* In the myth “He really knows better. He knows what he did and knows he is at fault,” the idea that alcoholics always intentionally lie is debunked. Sometimes, they cannot remember because events don’t enter the memory. On the other hand, if they’re not in a blackout, then they’re lying.
Click for the source of the story: here and here!
