I’d like to share my recent and continuing experience with everyone I possibly can. My hope is that sharing this story will help many others realize something I could not until now.
On November 29, 2006 my world changed in many ways I never thought possible. I was charged with my second DUI, my first being over fourteen years ago. At the time I had many different feelings about my charge. I was angry that I put myself in this situation, afraid of what lay ahead of me, ashamed that my family members and friends would all soon know of this very embarrassing moment and very depressed by all of this. The events that have followed that night have brought me to where I am today and I am a better person for it.
I hired a lawyer and had to go to court many times over the next year. I was found guilty, which actually at that point gave me some sort of relief because of all the uncertainty over the past year. At least I finally knew where I stood. One of the choices I made was to spend sixty hours in Springfield Correctional Facility instead of community service. The reason I chose this was not because I wanted to do jail time, actually it really sent chills down my spine, but that it would be over much quicker and fit into my schedule much better. I never realized what a life changing experience this would be.
I will never forget the time I spent in jail. You might think sixty hours in jail isn’t that big a deal and for some it may not be, but it made me realize something that I never really gave much thought. We go through everyday life complaining about this and that never appreciating what we have here in this country, freedom. We take for granted everything in everyday life that we feel is somehow owed to us. People have fought and died to give us the freedoms we have today and continue too. I never gave much thought to going to the refrigerator and getting a drink of my choice or something I wanted to eat. I certainly never thought about being able to use a bathroom in private or just being able to get up and walk around. That has since all changed.
For those of you who haven’t had to spend any time in jail or have never actually heard what it’s like, let me shed some light on this for you. I left my dignity at the door. Once through the door I realized the world I once knew was far behind me. I had to get checked in and that alone is pretty degrading. I had to strip so they could make sure I was not bringing in any contraband. After the check in was done I was led into my weekend home. Let me describe to you what my living conditions were going to be like for the next sixty hours. I was put in a room with five other people in a holding cell. It was nothing more than a room with four walls, a ceiling and a floor. It did have a sink and a toilet, if that’s what you want to call them, which the toilet was clogged when I first was brought in and didn’t get fixed for a couple of hours. It was a one unit system made of some sort of brushed steel. The toilet had no seat and the sink come off at a ninety degree angle. I was given a rubber coated mat about four inches thick and roughly three foot by six foot and two thin, afghan like, wool blankets. One blanket I used as a pillow and one to cover up with. The floor was made of smooth concrete and the walls block concrete.
In this cell were six people all with different stories, but that would be for another time. In between each mat was barely enough room to walk heel to toe. There was no room to really walk around, you could walk to the door and look out the four inch by two foot window to see the guards desk. If you had to go to the bathroom you had to do it with five other people there, which is why I didn’t eat much before going in or while I was there. You got three meals a day, nothing to write home about, with powdered milk or sometimes 1% in a carton or watered down juice. If you had a book to read you were lucky. Mostly you either read or slept. The only time you got to leave the cell was to get your food tray and that was occasionally. I did get to shower and brush my teeth the last day I was there. The towel looked like a large wash cloth and the toothbrush barely big enough to hold onto while brushing your teeth. By the second day my back was killing me. The mats are definitely not made for comfort. Time dragged on.
There are many other things I’ve had to do and thousands of dollars spent because of this but that weekend is what really hit home with me and is, as hard as it is to believe, the best thing that ever happened to me.
What I learned was that I have nothing at all to complain about. I have many freedoms and how I chose to use them is up to me. I look at things in a new light and when things seem bad, are they really? Not when I look back at that sixty hour weekend. Nobody put me in that situation but me. I was the one that drove under the influence, but I hope and pray I can keep someone else from making the same mistake as me. I was really lucky that no one was hurt or worse yet killed. I hope that everyone can forgive me for what I did that night.
Drinking and Driving is not worth the price. Trust me.
Ted Frink