Mr. Drunky Drunk has an Enabler

So, last month I posted about almost getting killed in the McDonald's parking lot. I filed charges and waited for my court date. Last Tuesday was the date I got. Here is an account of what followed.

We get a subpoena in the mail. Hubby and I both took an entire day off of work since the alloted court time was in the middle of the day. In order for me to take this one day off I had to split up my hours because Court just happened to fall during the Week From Hell and I had 4 Christmas parties to attend that week. I had to work at least 4 hours every day for 7 days to take this one day off and not miss any of my already committed-to parties!

The day finally comes for me to testify against Mr. Drunky Drunk and guess what?? He doesn't show up...but wait there's more! His Dad shows up in his place!! At first we were just looking at him, whispering, "Is that him? That doesn't look like the guy. Are you sure that's him? That guy looks too old to me him..and too heavy." Well, to be honest we weren't entirely sure that it wasn't him. It didn't look like him the way we remembered it, but to be honest we only saw him for like one minute and that was at night a month ago! So, we didn't say anything because we weren't positive and we didn't have proof anyway. We sat in court for 2 hours waiting on him to be called and when it finally happened he plead guilty. The clerk looked at me and said, "Your dismissed." Just like that. I take a whole day off of work, rearrange my entire life which includes working 7 days straight to be dismissed. Crap. I still don't even know what he got...a fine, community service, jail?? So, I thought that was the end of that. Very disappointing.

But then Sunday came.

Sunday after church we were driving home and we passed right by this guy's house (like I said in my last post, we are practically neighbors) and who do we see sitting on the porch smoking a ciggarette? Right...Mr. Drunky Drunk. Damn. Now, because I am a person of high morals or maybe because I am kind of a bitch, I have to go back to the Magistrate and tell him what happened. Do I think anything will happen? No, what's done is done. If his Dad is okay with his son being a drunk and beligerent person that tries to run over children in restaurant parking lots that's his business, but I have to tell someone what this guy is doing.

Maybe it's a Jr./Sr. situation. Maybe his dad is the one that opened the door and said 'Yeah, it was me' because it was easier than making his son take responsibility for what happened. Maybe he only has one more strike against him before he loses his license...I don't know. All I know is that once I tell someone in authority then I've done what I feel like I have to do. Damn, why do I have to be so freaking responsible??

So much drama...so little evidence.

There should come a time in one's life when you are too old for drama. Apparently, my time has not come yet. An innocent trip to McDonald's with Hubby and the Ankle Biters ended up being an hour-long ordeal. The cops even got involved. Now, I'm not a person that will just call the cops randomly. Someone has to be in danger before I'll do that. I live in a small town and I know just about every cop, firefighter and paramedic thanks to my job at the Emergency Room. At work I don't hesitate to call the cops to help keep the peace just because I can, but in my personal life I could count on one hand the number of times I have had to call the cops on someone. That doesn't include the time I called the local PD about a car swerving all over the road or a light being out at an intersection...or the time they were chasing some kids through my yard and I called the dispatcher to tell them which direction the kids ran. Like I said, it's a small town, we all know each other and we look out for each other. So Saturday evening, during half-time of the Alabama/Tennessee game I might add, we decided to get some Mickey D's. The kids have this thing about going inside...probably because our McD's has video games they can play while we wait on our food...so we park and head across the parking lot. This guy literally runs out of the side door and jumps into his truck, which happens to be the truck that my oldest two boys are walking beside. This guy doesn't even have his door shut good and he's got is truck in reverse and starts peeling out...towards me and my 8 yr. old son. Hubby started banging on his truck to get his attention while I am screaming and shoving my child from my right side (where a truck tire is now) to safety on my other side. Hubby dented ol' boy's truck by banging on it. So, he finally stops in the middle of the parking lot, sticks his head out of his window and says, "What the [bleep] is going on?". I informed him in a slightly elevated voice that he almost ran over my child...to which he says. "Keep your [bleep bleep] kids out of the street, [bleep that rhymes with ditch]!" Well I can't recount the rest of the conversation because it would be mostly bleeps. I wish I could say that all the bleeps were his, but no. My children got to hear Mama say some words that I don't ever think they've heard before. I could smell the beer on this dude from eight feet away. He was drunk, disorderly, belligerent and driving around my town!! So, Mama did what Mama's do when drunk people try to run their babies over in parking lots...I called the Po-Po. Luckily, they pulled him over. Unfortunately, this guy has obviously been through this before because he pulls into his own driveway and runs inside. According to my friend, the police woman, this means that she lost line of sight on him and even if he was over the limit with alcohol it would be thrown out of court. I asked a few other of our town's finest about it and they all said the same thing. So, this guy knows how to get around the system. That tells me that he's done this before. She took my report and this morning I am going down to City Hall to talk to the Magistrate about pressing charges for Reckless Endangerment. I'm pretty frustrated at this point. How is it that a guy can drink and drive and almost kill people and they can't arrest him because he runs into his house?? Even though she saw him driving the vehicle?? I have no tolerance for a drunk. Give me a junkie any day of the week. Junkies have a goal, they have a plan most of the time and they are usually actually pretty polite because when they do come to the ER they know that an outburst will get them put out and then they won't get what they came for...but a drunk has none of that. A drunk has no goal, no plan, no control over their actions or mouth and they are dangerous. Now, that's not to say that someone who is already high isn't the same way, but I have a particular disdain for alcoholics. My daddy was an alcoholic. So, I go to press charges this morning which means that eventually it will go to court and I will have to testify about what happened. Hubby is pretty pessimistic that anything will come of it. I'm going through with it because at the very least it will create a paper trail against this guy. If he doesn't have a problem jumping behind the wheel while he's drunk then it's just a matter of time before he does kill someone. If pressing charges now means that next time he gets caught he already has something on his record I'm all for it. My poor son was so upset by the whole thing. By the time this guy peeled out of the parking lot (after cussing me like a dog in front of my children) my little one was so shook up he was crying and said "Mama, that guy tried to kill me!". It broke my heart and it still makes me want to find this guy and break important appendages. I can tell you one thing, if this guy had ever seen what I've seen he would never think about driving recklessly and he would always look for little ones when backing up. If he had ever had to hold a little one's skull together during CPR like I have because some careless person can't be bothered with looking before backing up I bet he would NEVER EVER drive recklessly again or drink and drive. I can hope for the best at least. Like I said, it's a small town and we look out for each other.

Just Stopped by to Complain a Little

The following is a rant of frustration, desperation, aggravation, and many, many other unpleasant emotions:

Ok, so here's the real deal Holyfield. My life is kinda falling apart right now. I haven't intentionally abandoned you I promise. I began classes the day I returned from Savannah and I haven't had my head above water since then.
Seriously...I thought this was going to be totally different. I have no idea what I'm doing.
We'll start off by saying that at no point on their website or in email communication from my "advisors" did anyone ever mention accelerated terms. What that basically means is that you have nine weeks to do what the other students are doing in a whole semester. I did my midterms last week. I have three weeks left to go.
I think I'm dying.

Another thing about it is that, as described in the wonderful advertisement material, you have to log in so many times a week to get your attendance credit. Well, that's not really how it works. you have to post something to that class' discussion board 3-5 times a week. Sounds simple right? That's what I thought. Turns out that you have to post a response to the weekly question...which up until now has been a compare and contrast or a an opinion (in which the teacher will then correct your opinion, so what was the point?)...and respond to someone else's post. Here's the rub - you're not allowed to use 'I agree or I disagree' or it doesn't count. You're also not allowed to go back to a previous week's discussion. Also, your response must be a paragraph...each one.

I found out yesterday that like *none* of my responses are getting full credit. Apparently, I'm not wordy enough?? What. The. Hell?? Plus, if I don't get credit for attendance I will have to pay back my Pell Grant.

I want to quit.

I have never quit anything before. I had a child in the 10th grade and never quit school for Pete's sake!! This whole thing just isn't working for me. I don't have any interaction with my teachers (I have emailed before but realize now that urgent questions aren't going to be answered because the response always come 2-3 days later) or fellow students other than the required discussion. In fact I emailed my midterm to one of my teachers early to be critiqued (at her request) and still haven't heard from her...I just had to turn it in and hope that I had gotten at least some of it right.

All of this is in addition to the hell I went through trying to get enrolled, registered and get my textbooks. I found out 2 weeks into class that I wasn't going to get a textbook voucher from financial aid because the registration had taken to long and I had missed the deadline so I had to shell out $400 for three textbooks. Textbooks are a whole other complaint. As much money as I spent on them....I have barely touched them! Most of my work is research work that is accomplished with the Internet...in fact for my current research paper I am NOT ALLOWED to use my text as a reference or it's an automatic zero! So what the freak did I buy them for??

Ok, so I'm doing a lot of complaining today. It's just that being a student was always something I did exceedingly well. I was Valedictorian in both high school and nursing school...so floundering is something I have no experience with at all. I have never wanted to quit anything before this. If I thought that I could physically make it to class 1-2 days a week I would think about transferring to the local community college. I mean, I already have financial aid...I guess that would transfer. I just don't see how I could get it done. I am already working full time, homeschooling, keeping a home and all the things a Mom does.

I don't know what I'm going to do. All I know is that I am busting my butt trying to keep my head above water but the pace is so fast I feel like I'm drowning and if I'm not even getting credit for what I am doing, I don't see the point in trying! I just have to try to finish this term and then decide from there.

Thanks for letting me rant and rave. I needed that.

Oh, I the cruise was definitely a once in a lifetime thing...good and bad...and that is a whole other post :) Pictures soon, I promise!