thINK before you drINK

Many have heard that drinking and driving is wrong, but never realizes why this is. Many people think of the consequences of drinking and driving as it pertains to them, but never consider how the consequences relate to others.

In Death of an Innocent, the authors show how one girl’s tragic collision with a drunk driver, could not only be the end of her life, but that this could possibly happen to you or a loved one. In their poem, the authors tell how a responsible girl obeyed her mother by not drinking and driving at a party, but she was abruptly punished for it. The authors have the girl repeat “mom” at the end and during many of her sentences, this shows how the girl is: responsible, reliable, and trustworthy. But, the girl’s family must be punished at this loss, only at the carelessness of another.

Not only was the girl’s family affected by this incident, but obviously the girl was too, in the poem she states that “I’m lying here dying, Mom. I wish you’d get here soon. How could this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon. There is blood all around me, Mom, and most of it is mine. I hear the medic say, Mom, I’ll ‘die in a short time.’” Here in these few lines she demonstrates how, one minute everything is fine, and then she is “dying in a short time.”

The driver in the poem probably didn’t even realize his drinking and driving would result in the death of the girl, causing her family such grief and anguish. He selfishly drove after drinking only thinking of himself. To top it all off, he was able to walk right after the crash, all he could do was stare…as the girl slowly passed away.