"White Tag!" Two words that will stick with me for the rest of my life.
So went to dinner tonight with the Kincaids (parents of the boys we took care of for two eventful weeks last year (scroll down.) Had a great meal at a newer Sacramento restaurant called Kupro's Bistro.
7:15 pm: As we arrived and parked across the street from the restaurant we noticed a large collection of police cars in the adjacent parking lot. Then we noticed the large circle of police officers...and a few large motorhome style vehicles with police logos on them. "Hmm, they must be rehearsing a sobriety checkpoint for tomorrow night, New Year's Eve, the night of all nights for a sobriety checkpoint." So we head into the restaurant for dinner.
7:30 pm: As I'm finishing my first full glass of wine we notice that in fact they were setting up the checkpoint tonight...in front of the restaurant...oh, and blocking my car. The chef comes out of the kitchen and goes outside to look, swears and mutters something about it being right in front of his restaurant and comes back inside. I immediately cut myself off as I was the driver for the evening, but I was pretty nervous.
9:10 pm: After a second bottle of wine for the lucky, and a gallon of water for me, dinner wound down and we decided to go check out the rest of the sizable restaurant. We went upstairs and discovered a nice balcony, that on this particularly cold night gave us a grand bird's eye view of the checkpoint below. We watched one long strand of cars after another come through. The line of officers would approach each vehicle, chat with them momentarily, and then, more often than not, wave them through. One particularly thorough gentleman was making everyone follow his finger back and forth before waving them through. Every so often someone would require a little extra attention and the call would go out and down the line, "White tag!" as a white slip of paper was placed under their windshield wiper and the last officer in the line would move into their way, guiding them into the parking lot with about a hundred other officers, and a dozen squad cars. We even saw one unfortunate being led away in cuffs.
Meanwhile, I am looking out on all of this and quietly trying to calculate cab fare back to Elk Grove with a stop to drop off our friends along the way. Oye. Very unnerving. Made more so by the fact that I'm standing out there with a small group of seemingly loud intoxicated individuals who have had to add my portion of wine to their own. Every so often an officer or two would glance up at us. "Those yahoos are mine," I could hear them thinking. There was no way we were going to get the polite wave-through.
9:30 pm: I decided I needed a little more time to feel absolutely certain before planning my escape. You'll remember that not only will we have to go through the checkpoint, but that my car is parked in the middle of it. So we walked a very cold walk (Hannah in high heels by the way) to Rick's Dessert Diner. There we sugared up, warmed up, and waited for me to achieve the right feeling about myself.
10:15 pm: Time to go for it. Tom and I left Hannah and Brian at the Dessert Diner, and decided to run the gauntlet with just us. We got back to the car and asked the nice officer how we should go about getting out. "Oh you can't move that car," he said. "You'll have to come back and get it tomorrow morning.".......uh.......he smiled....(Whew!) We got in, I got out my license and we merged into the checkpoint.
10:30 pm:
SPD: Good evening sir
JDW: Good evening. (Sweat forming.)
SPD: Where are you coming from tonight?
JDW:Out eating with friends. (Stay calm dude, stay calm.)
SPD: Where'd you go?
JDW:Rick's Dessert DIner. (A brilliant answer in hindsight since they don't serve alcohol there.)
SPD: Do they have good food there? (I am stymied by the fact that this guy doesn't seem to know the place. Oh...he's testing me!)
JDW:Well it's all dessert, so of course.
Tom: Chocolate, chocolate! (Seriously? You've chosen to speak up?! Now??? Don't speak!)
SPD: Well would you like some information from Mother's Against Drunk Driving?
JDW: Sure! (Answering "no" has to be an automatic "White tag!")
SPD: Have a good evening.
JDW: Thank you. You too. (Driving slowly forward. Don't hit orange cones. Don't hit other officers. Unclench.)
There was more. Yes, he asked me the big question, and no, I'll not be sharing my response here. Despite the relief completely overwhelming us we did manage to remember to stop by and pick up the Kincaids. All have gotten home safely. "White tag!" is now firmly entrenched in our vernacular.
For the record, cab fare to Elk Grove would run about $50. Steep, yes, but given the alternative... Have a plan tomorrow people. But don't call me. I'm staying home...and making up for tonight! Happy New Year!!
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