November 26, 2011 Uh-Oh

Look what I discovered on the Sable! A dent on the passenger's door.

Guess who has been driving the Sable. NOT me. Not ME!!!!

When I pointed the dent out to CB was genuinely surprised. I know he wasn't acting, because I once got an Academy Award in this very category, so I know acting when I see it.

You want details? I'll give you details. The year was 1975, I was a Senior in high school. The drinking age was 18. It was a time of enlightenment in the land.

We had a blue Ford LTD, which I was sometimes allowed to drive, but there was no question that it was my parent's car. One evening I had too much to drink (hard to believe, isn't it?) and chose to drive home. I took a corner too sharply and ripped a piece of chrome off the bottom of the car.

When I faced my dad (scared shitless, I might add), I told him that while driving home from some activity like Bible study, I swerved to miss a dog that had run into the street and hit the curb. I was well and truly sorry and no, I did not hit the dog. Thank goodness.

No punishment was forthcoming. Whew! I did not gloat about my luck; doing so would have caused bad Karma and I didn't need Karma kicking my ass.

Fast forward to 1989. Luke was 8 years old and we were driving to Dodge to visit his Grandpa Judge. Somehow we got to talking about drinking and driving. I told him it was a bad idea and that I had damaged my dad's car while driving after drinking. I told him the whole story and we moved on to another topic.

We pulled into Dad's driveway and Luke jumped out of the car, just like he always did and burst into the house yelling "Papa Judge! Papa Judge!" Luke found Dad in his office and, after hugs all around, started telling him about our trip.

By the time I appeared at the door, I heard my little darling say "And she lied to you and told you that she swerved to miss a dog when really she had been drinking....".

Karma? Kicked my ass anyway.

My dad? Not very happy. At all.

Lesson learned? Do not tell your 8 year old anything you don't want your parents to know.