Monday, August 06, 2007

"Sobering" Thoughts

"I passed DUI tests stone cold sober" read the headline. In response to recent stories regarding DUI's in our area, the reporter decided to take the test himself.

Looks easy enough doesn't it? Don't be so sure. The test was administered under controlled conditions by an officer designated a drug recognition expert. He supposedly can spot impairment by looking into your eyes. Wonder if it's as accurate as Bush's look into Putin's eyes in which he saw his soul?

The reporter passed the eye test. I wonder if I could. Would artificial lenses as a result of cataract surgery give the appearance of being "glassy" eyed under less than perfect conditions? The heel-to-toe test and the foot lift test followed. Even with lapses in concentration he passed.

Okay. I've got to try this. My balance has been nonexistent for years. The structural issues in my lower back and hip are contributing factors. I'm spending big bucks on physical therapy trying to get it straightened out. Literally.

When I began with my current therapist, one leg was shorter than the other, one ankle quite a bit larger and the muscles in my back totally out of whack. My whole body was twisted. A lot of work has gone into being able to balance on one leg. The reporter stood for a count of 26. I can too, now, but it has taken months. And I can still be pretty wobbly. The heel-to-toe toe test? Not so easy. I felt like a young girl trying to walk in her first pair of high heels. Would I have passed the test in the field had I been stopped? I doubt it.

I too was stone cold sober.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I suffer from Essential Tremor, which is a hand and slight body tremor that is inherited from family members. I carry a card stating this, but I doubt that the card would make much difference if I was stopped. I went through a battery of test's at Methodist Hospital in Houston for a body tremor study and I couldn't walk a heel to toe straight line in that controlled setting, so I know what would happen under the stress of being stopped out on the streets with a cop watching me and giving me instructions. I would be going to jail for sure.