Under the Influence

So I know that this is a few days old but when I came to work on Monday I found these two very contradicting stories and thought it quite coincidental that they both came to light over the same weekend. Being the local Youth Prevention Specialist I sent both articles to the wonderful Project 71 (alternative high school) teacher in hopes that she would share it with her Project Penguins (students). Of course she thought it as interesting as I did and shared the two stories with her classes that day.

If you are not from Livingston you may not know the troubles that we have had over the past 3 weeks or so involving drinking and driving. There have been 3 accidents, 2 of which were fatal to some or all passengers, in the area all involving alcohol and young people (teens and twentysomethings) so these kind of national news stories are great material to add to our arsenal.

This first story is John Mayer's Blog:

SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 2008 UNDER THE (IMPRESSION I CAN) INFLUENCE (PEOPLE AROUND ME.With Chad, Left, seated. (With glasses)

I'm taking to the blog today to share something with you that I feel more passionate about than I saw coming. I want to make it short and sweet so that anybody who wants to re-print it can copy and paste without editing...Went out to dinner Thursday night. My car. One glass of wine. Carpooled from dinner to go out to one more place. Everyone in my car. At the next spot, I do the Diet Coke with Lime thing. My favorite scotch (Lagavulin 16 year) arrives under my nose. "Can't do it," I say. Then I find out my friend has switched to Designated Driver and has a plan that involves everyone getting home safe. Cool. I love Lagavulin when the time is right. Now it's the end of the night and I'm feeling wonderfully buzzy and ready to get dropped off to my house in my car, except the person that was going to follow my car in the DD's car to drive him back isn't in shape to drive either. It's 2 o'clock in the morning. I call my housemate Chad. Chad's sleeping. He was in the studio all day. I explain to him that I need him to jump in the back seat of my car, ride to the DD's car and drive me back home. Of course Chad says "yes" and comes through like a champ. A champ, I say.Here's what I want to tell you:If I, incredibly hot/fugly John Mayer can make that call, so can you. The distance from the parking lot to my house was about 5 miles, mostly straight shot up the coast of Santa Monica, zero traffic. And I didn't drive it. Me. The guy who gets the VIP velvet rope treatment in life. Oh, and the call? It's not the coolest you'll ever sound. And the logistics? It's kind of inelegant. You trace the same route twice when all you want to do is fall into bed. But you gotta do it.This is all coming from a guy who you can be sure would have found a sexier way to get home if there was one available. And there just isn't, especially in LA. (You can be sexy again the next day when you wake up with the rest of your big, beautiful life in front of you.)I'm not writing this to earn golf claps, it's just that if I'm going to stand in any way as an ambassador of something cool or influential, this is more important than any pair of sneakers or a guitar. And to give a big high five to the Chads of the world. See you around JM

This second story is from the news:
Pulp Fiction' Screenwriter Arrested
AP
Posted: 2008-01-14 07:45:50
VENTURA, Calif. (AP) - Oscar-winning screenwriter Roger Avary has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and driving under the influence after a Ventura County car crash that killed a man and injured Avary's wife, authorities said.Avary, 42, was the driver in the single-car collision shortly after midnight Sunday in Ojai, said Capt. Ross Bonfiglio of the Ventura County Sheriff's Department.Killed in the accident was Andreas Zini, 34, a resident of Italy who was apparently visiting the couple. Firefighters cut Zini from the car with Jaws of Life, and he died several hours later at Ventura County Medical Center.Avary's wife Gretchen, 40, was ejected from the car and found in the road by deputies, Bonfiglio said. She was hospitalized in stable condition.Avary was booked but later released on $50,000 bail, Bonfiglio said. He did not know whether Avary has hired an attorney.Avary won an Academy Award along with Quentin Tarantino for writing "Pulp Fiction," and was also a co-writer of the recent epic "Beowulf." He and his wife live in Ojai, a popular artists' colony and tourist destination 14 miles north of Ventura.