Thanks for the info but after my friend's experience, I'm leaving nothing to chance. Zero booze for me when I'm driving.
I cringe to think of the times in my late teens and early 20s I drove home with one eye shut so there would only be one yellow line to negotiate.
That I did not hurt or kill myself or other people is a miracle. I never particularly judged EC for making the drunken decision, at 16, to recklessly drive his vehicle. I can think of way too many people besides myself that might have had the same horrific end to a really, really bad choice.
That said, if my terrible judgement had resulted in the loss of four innocent lives and destruction of many more, I can promise you my parents would have brokenheartedly but assuredly made sure I served out whatever sentence I was given.
Thing is, kids (and young adults) think they are invincible. They have 70+ years stretched out before them to rectify any damage done to their bodies, brains or others....or so they think. The frontal cortex of the brain (which accounts for decision making and impulse control) is not fully developed until about the age of 25. This is why children have parents.
My disgust with EC really is misdirected. When a child behaves like a total $hit and is rewarded for that, is defended and coddled whenever he does wrong,and is never held accountable, the fault is laid at the feet of his parents.....
Again, I did some stupid, dumbazz things that by God's grace, never ended badly. But I can promise you, if they had, my parents' disappointment would have been right up there with whatever the judge decided.
Ethan Couch is an entitled, apathetic little . And I don't have much hope that he will ever be anything other. He is what he is, no excuses. But people like him do not occur in a vacuum.
There are no perfect parents and even the best parents have kids who test and try and push limits. The problem is when there are no limits. Then the child never stops pushing or testing....
It is a sincere shame that these two awful parents will probably never suffer the consequences of their failure. And so far, it looks like Ethan will emerge unscathed, too. No consequences, no lessons learned.
