After the party, it’s good to be sober

It was some time ago, I’d say about ten years. Barbara and I had just been at a very enjoyable 14 juillet party with our Francophone friends. The location was in the vicinity of El Cajon Boulevard, Meade Ave. or thereabouts in San Diego. The party had been fun. It was at Adriana’s place. She and Leslie had gone out of their way to ensure there was plenty of good food and no shortage of beverages. There was an alcoholic punch and it went down easily, so I made sure to keep getting refills.

We left the party at around ten o’clock and had to drive home along El Cajon Boulevard. As we entered this busy city street, we saw in the distance that there was some commotion, the flashing blue light of police cars signaled there was some serious problem ahead. Perhaps, an accident, a drug arrest, you never know. As we got closer, we realized something else was going on. Police officers were waving at cars to stop. This included us. I was the driver and was asked to step out of the vehicle.

It didn’t take me long to figure out that it was a sobriety check. “Have you been drinking sir, the officer asked me. Just a couple of glasses of wine,” I answered unthinkingly. That was the wrong thing to say, I soon realized. “Please, step back in the car,” I was told. “And hand me your driver’s license and DMV registration. And, oh yes, your car keys.” I was asked where I had been and was honest to tell him that I’d been at a party with friends to celebrate and, yes, that there had been alcohol.

The officer told me what lay ahead. “You first have to do some routine tests and if you pass those, you need to do a sobriety check. You have two attempts.” I knew that meant blowing through a tube in a receptacle. And the air would be analyzed for traces of alcohol. This was the first time I ever had to do this and I realized, I might fail the test. The consequence would likely be a suspension of my driver license, possibly for more than a year, or the installation of an alcohol sensor in my car. Heavy fines and demerit points on my record with the DMV. This would translate into a higher annual cost for my car insurance.

Then the officer asked me to open the window on the driver’s side. He took a pencil out of his jacket and told me to follow its movement from one side to the other and back several times. This showed I could focus. Next, I had to recite the numbers from 1 to 70, backwards: seventy, sixty-nine, etc. Next, I had to leave the car and I was asked to step forward nine whole steps, and then the same distance backwards. I had some trouble and tried to get sympathy from the officer by telling him that I had had a hip operation and had trouble walking. “Just do the best you can,” he told me.

I realized time was of the essence and I did what I had to do slowly. I asked the officer questions and did the walk several times. Since my ordeal was shared with every driver who had the misfortune of driving down El Cajon Boulevard, the parking lot was occupied by a number of cars with anxious drivers. I glanced at my watch and realized that about a half hour had passed between the moment I had been stopped and the point in time when I had to breathe through the tube.

I breathed through the tube. I had at least six glasses of alcoholic beverages, wine and punch. And I was glad that we left when we did, because I could easily have drunk some more. The officer showed me the result: 0.065% alcohol. The limit is 0.08% for drivers over 21 years of age. Do I need the test again. “Not necessary,” said the officer as he handed me my paperwork and the car keys. Relieved, we drove home. I was determined to be careful in the future, and stop after three drinks.

MvR, November 3, 2025. ✍️