Last Saturday, at 6:30pm, one car rear-ended another at a stop-light in downtown Seattle. That's not too unusual...I'm sure there are many rear-end type accidents everyday in a city of Seattle's size.
Even the fact that the driver of the car that caused the accident was already drunk at 6:30pm is not totally unheard of...there have been a few times in my own life when I have been intoxicated that early in the day...I made the correct decisions to avoid rear-ending someone, but I have been drunk at 6:30pm.
What makes this story so jaw-droppingly, mind-blowingly INSANE is that the guy driving the back car has 18 PRIOR alcohol/reckless driving related convictions. Oh, and another bakers-dozen occasions when he was caught 'Driving Without a License.'
WTF!?!?!?!
That is 18-times when he could have potentially run over a cross-walk full of kindergartners.
Imagine every 9 months I went to the mall, I pulled out a gun, and fired few random shots in each direction. Because I'm a good shot, I was able to miss everyone, although a ricochet or two might have hit a baby-stroller. Do you think I they would let me do that for 10 years before locking me up and throwing away the key? We all know the answer to that.
And while I wouldn't be able to legally own a gun, nothing would be able to stop me, just like nothing can stop this guy from illegally driving a car, short of feeding him feet-first into a wood chipper, which is what one of my insensitive co-workers suggested.
There is sadness here...the story says Mr. Benson is a 30-year Navy Veteran, who served in Vietnam. If true, that would mean there is a good chance he was a Corpsman with the Marines, in which he has been there and done that...and this is a sad way for a hero to end up. But...even Post-traumatic Stress Disorder is no excuse for these actions. Wanting to drink yourself to death is your choice...just do it at home, or chose a bar within walking distance.
Unable to help himself, Mr. Benson just needs to go away for a long, long time...like the rest of his time.
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