I'd kind of hesitated writing much about my current trek through the courts system; most of it is depressing beyond words. At the risk of sounding like a terrible snob, the entire process is geared towards the lowest common denominator.

But, damn kids, if I have to spend all this money on substance abuse, we're going to get a little blog fodder out of it!

I had my first class on Saturday. It was nothing at all like I envisioned, and I'm glad I took the time to check into several providers before picking this one. The session started by watching a movie from the History Channel about illicit drugs, mainly pot. So much of it was excerpted from movies like Reefer Madness and the like, it was hysterical. Women with their perfectly coiffed wavy hair and pearls from the mid-20th century (think June Cleaver) with maniacal smiles and uncontrolled giggling! It was just...(ellipse borrowed from Eric - apparently he has the copyright) surreal. Then we took an opinion worksheet about DUI laws. There is one young man in this group that I think may have abused many substances, repeatedly, for years. Either that, or he thought taking a radical PC view would earn him brownie points. He thought the minimum punishment for a first time DUI should be mandatory jail time, 3 yr. revocation of license, etc. I looked over at him and said, "Whaddaya, stoopid?" I think I almost made him cry. I'd probably better watch my mouth before I end up with anger management counseling. Honestly, other than be a total pain in the ass, this whole part of the ordeal won't be bad. They insist on humor in the discussions, and honesty. And Good Lord, I don't have it nearly as bad as some of the guys. They'll be doing this for a long time.