Paris Hilton and the Evil Judicial System
(Some of you will see this on my Facebook Notes)
You know, I don't usually care one iota about the doings of Paris "I'm an attention whore" Hilton. I don't find her attractive, intelligent, or particularly talented and I've still yet to hear of anything charitable she's done in the past 26 years of her life. To someone like me, she's a nobody with a hell of a lot of money and way too much free time.
Okay, so why do I care that she's going off to jail? Well, for several reasons.
Let me tell you a little story about a relative of mine. We'll call him Mikey. Mikey is about four months older than I am and a pretty happy-go-lucky guy. Mikey is mildly intellectually challenged, but he's a hard worker, likes to party when he can and is generally a decent guy, if a little slow most of the time. His family adores him because he's a really cool guy to be around. He could teach a lot of people about taking the time to enjoy life. He certainly did and still does.
Why am I telling you about my cousin, Mikey? Well, Mikey had an unfortunate accident. When he was in his early 30's, he went out to party with some buddies of his, which included two fellows and two girls. Everyone got a little intoxicated and without thinking they all climbed into a car to drive home. Mikey was not the driver, but he was in the back seat with the two girls. The driver was intoxicated. On the way home the driver hit another car and caused a major accident.
The driver of the other car died. The two girls sitting on either side of my cousin Mikey, who hadn't had seatbelts on, also died. The drunk driver and his front seat passenger were both okay and had only a few minor scratches and bruises (they wore their seat belts). Mikey was thrown from the car (I gather he wasn't wearing a seatbelt but that hasn't been confirmed one way or another) and ended up a paraplegic. Mikey now lives in a wheelchair, he'll never walk again, three people are dead and the driver who caused the accident only had a few minor cuts and bruises.
Now, one might say, Mikey was an idiot for getting into a car with a drunk driver. Sure he was, but given Mikey is mildly intellectually challenged, and is easily pressured into doing things he wouldn't think to do on his own (and his friends knew it), he got into the car probably being reassured that nothing will happen. Mikey possibly didn't wear a seatbelt, also a dumb thing, but again, from what I'm gathering from his family, he basically had to be reminded regularly to wear one when getting into a car. Something else his friends would have known. I'm not going to say that he wasn't at fault at all, but the fact remains is, someone who had something of a functioning brain got behind a wheel when drunk and as a result three people died and one other life was forever changed.
Mikey will have health problems because his spine is severed and he is paralysed from the waist down. Because of his mental incapability, however mild it is, he has to have a constant companion (currently is elder brother) and of course, his family had to fight long and hard to make sure his health costs, his special needs, etc. would be covered for the rest of his life. Mikey can work, but only part-time. The damage to his body apparently went beyond just being a paraplegic, although I haven't been given much in the way of details.
When anyone asks about Mikey, his brothers and father will tell you, "You know Mikey, he takes everything in stride." Mikey's sad he lost some friends, he's sad that people died, he is no longer friends with the drunk driver, and is sad he lost a friend because of this, but at the same time, he accepts what happened, and is living his life. Which is great.
But what about the families that lost two of their daughters? How about the driver of the other car, someone sober and not expecting to have his life ended so abruptly because someone decided to drive intoxicated? What about his family?
See, I think of these things when I see the likes of Paris Hilton thinking she can get away with a so called "misdemeanor" without punishment becuase she is rich and famous. The final time she got caught, she was pulled over for speeding at 11:00 p.m. in February with her lights off. Then she claimed she didn't know her licence was suspended, even though the paper she signed acknowledging this was found in the glove compartment of the car. Excuse me, driving at night without your lights on? If that doesn't scream you know exactly what you're doing and you are fully aware that you are not supposed to be driving, I don't know what does!
Thing is Ms. Hilton, people could have died because of your reckless behaviour. Someone could have died the night you were caught driving under the influence and thankfully you were caught by the cops before someone was hurt. You were punished for this and disregarded that punishement. In February, you could have caused a serious accident when you basically tried to make yourself "invisible" by driving with your lights off (and speeding).
When you get into a vehicle drunk or you drive recklessly, you are essentially a person with a weapon. That weapon is a dangerous one. I'm infuriated when people think drunk driving or reckless driving is considered a misdemeanor. How may dead daughters, mothers, fathers, sons and innocent people have to die or be seriously injured for the rest of their lives before someone realises that DUIs and reckless driving is more than a misdemeanor.
Oh, and I've been a victim of a reckless driver too. Thankfully she wasn't drunk, but she wasn't paying attention to the road and I now have permanent damage to the muscles and ligaments on the left side of my face as a result. This is a lifetime thing (and the reason why I have migraine headaches) and I've spent a lot of money and time getting treatment.
So yeah, I think Paris Hilton got exactly what she deserved, and I don't think it's enough, just like I think other reckless drivers don't get enough most of the time.
No sympathy for the Hotel Heiress and her ilk. Now I'm seriously hoping Nicole Ritchie gets hers when she's up for her DUI, as I do other celebrities and non-celebrities alike. I thank the likes of Judge Sauer for not caving in to the wealth and fame of one spoiled little twat. I still don't think it was harsh enough, but I hope at least a little public humiliation on the part of Paris Hilton is enough to make her take a long, hard look at her life and maybe reevaluate her priorities and realise that maybe she could be something more than just an adult stuck in her spoiled teen years and maybe make something more of her wealth, fame and life.
Paris Hilton getting exactly what she deserves.