Christmas Party

"There is a remarkable breakdown of taste and intelligence at Christmastime. Mature, responsible grown men wear neckties made of holly leaves and drink alcoholic beverages with raw egg yolks and cottage cheese in them." -P.J. O'Rourke

Wow, the bright and colorful lights strung from house to house, down numerous city streets and across all of earth. The world becomes a cheerful and wonderful site with all of the decorations this time of year.

We spend more money then we have, we smile more often then other times and we get a generally good feeling. We may tire of the many parties but we attend each of them and celebrate with family and friends.

The food just seems tastier and more enjoyable. The eggnog flows as do the spirits. We tend to overindulge and blame it on the season. We gain weight from the food and we drive after too much alcohol. The roads become a danger to others with the increased number of drunk drivers on the road. People lose their lives before they can see the new year. The joy and happiness gets replaced by sorrow and pain from the loss of a loved one.

There will likely be close to 37,000 traffic deaths this holiday season in the United States alone. Of which 37% of them or 13,690 will be alcohol related. The numbers have been decreasing with awareness, but so many remain avoidable. Even with this steady decline in fatalities, the number of drivers with drunk driving arrests is on the rise.

It is estimated that there are as many as two million drunk drivers with three or more convictions and more than 400,000 with five or more drunk driving convictions still behind the wheel.

Here are steps drivers can take to help avoid becoming a statistic:

1. If they drink, they shouldn’t drive no matter how little they think they’ve had.
2. Don’t let someone get behind the wheel if they’ve been drinking.
3. Avoid driving during early and late evening hours on holidays.

The Christmas parties at work and the celebrations at the home of friends will be a joyous occasion each and every time. With care, moderation and common sense there will be many more years of celebrating each of us can have.

Enjoy the holiday season, be of good cheer and spread happiness wherever you go. The time we have gives us an opportunity to make it a little better not only for ourselves, but for those around us.