OH
MY
Goodness.
Yes folks, I had a humdinger of a week. I was called for jury duty - I was PICKED for jury duty for the first time and it was a case of a 19 year old boy and all five of the occupants getting ejected from the truck that rolled as he was driving too fast on a curve. 2 boys died, 2 boys injured, 1 'boy' at age 23 seemingly had little injury. The case was a sentencing case, and it was tough, so very tough... because the facts as they were presented pretty much made me wonder why this poor boy (youngest of the bunch, dyslexic and a Section 504 kid) plead guilty to the intoxication manslaughter charges in the first place. (I feel he made a strong case of being coerced out of BED to go out for the third time that night). It was such a random twist of fate, and seeing those photos that are forever etched in my memory.. and hearing the parents' speak about their boys, it was so tragic and heartrending and my mind was in a daze for four days of the past week.
One thing that really stuck in my head, is that all five of the boys' families admitted easily on the stand that they regularly allow alcohol drinking in their home. They felt it was harmless. The whole attitude that 'if it's done in front of my face at least I can control it' is SO WAY OFF BASE, folks. You are condoning something that the LAW does not condone. And as such, you encouraged drinking to your kids, you made it a habit to your kids, and you made them comfortable being 19-20 year olds to go out and party. It is NOT OKAY to let kids drink. They are KIDS, take care of them, and keep them away from alcohol and drugs. Remember when we were in school and they taught us about abstinence? I think they need a refresher on that and adopt a zero tolerance policy. Kids need to be taught as kids to know that alcohol is not their friend. I am just so heartbroken, for this kid who will now go to prison, and this kid's family who is forever ostracized in the hometown that was theirs for generations back. And I wish I could say there has been closure and forgiveness for the parties involved, but that whole town (it was a Change of Venue case, very glad I don't live THERE!) is becoming maniacal against this boy and his family. When ALL these boys were drinking, and these boys went and got this kid back out from his home and pretty much peer pressured this younger boy to go out and he happened to be the one behind the wheel. I just cannot stand it.
Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. It was a horrible week, horrible to be deliberating on this case, horrible to try and be impartial when I felt sympathy for both sides of the case. And horrible for the looks we jurors received from the courtroom. MY GOD have some respect, people.
And then of course I had to get my head back in gear to function at work (OMG PILES of paperwork, stick a fork in me!!) .. when I finally sat down at a desk to go through emails, I had 196. Ugh. I did a mass delete just to preserve a smidgen of sanity, so if I missed anything you sent.. you know why...
Needless to say, I didn't attempt to read a page for four days out of the week, so once again I'm running behind schedule. But I did manage to take advantage of the Tax Free Weekend and my kiddos are clothes-wise ready for school to start on the 24th. I am debating whether or not I'm looking forward to it, but at least they will be sporting some bright new duds.
As far as my current Swap list goes, it is the same as last week which you can see here. I've been trying to clean up my library and definitely need to get rid of some ARCs that I won't be reading again. Let me know if there is anything you want to swap for! And for HF Fans there is a giveaway coming up next week, and it's not too late to sign up for the hop! See the details at Bippity Boppity Book. I'll be hosting a box-o-books giveaway, featuring (you guessed it!!) some ARCs from that swap list. And then I have someone on Paperbackswap that I can relegate my left overs to also, so that will help make some room. I am looking for GILBERT MORRIS novels so if you see/have any, I want to swap with you!
And take a peek at the review I posted for Hemingway's Girl by Erika Robuck, I so very highly recommend it!!
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