Drunk White Kid Falls Asleep in His Car

My 81-year-old husband shares a "white privilege" memory. This happened in Cleveland, OH in the late fifties. 

Rayshard Brooks drank too much and fell asleep in his car. We know what happened to him. As a young man, I also drank too much and fell asleep in my car. But today, here I am, able to write about it. Unlike Rayshard, I am white, blond and blue-eyed.

Here’s what happened. During the summer between high school and college, my friends and I decided we’d go bar hopping. I had a car, so I was the driver. We did what we planned, and it was time to go home. I drove my friends home, one by one.

Next thing I knew, someone was rapping on my drivers-side window. It was a policeman waking me up at a traffic light. He said I needed to go to the station.

“OK, Officer, I’ll follow you.”

“You aren’t driving anywhere. I’ll get someone to drive your car in.”

At the station an officer said to blow into some kind of a tube. He then appeared to read a number off a machine, and said, “You’re not drunk”. Of course I was. “Here are your keys. Your car is in the front lot. Go to your car and take a nap. Then drive home very carefully.”

I didn’t wait as long as I should have before driving home. It was around two AM. I remember biting my lip to stay awake the whole way. I made it home, but I didn’t make it to my bed. I was on the sofa mid-morning, with my mother looking down at me, silent but worried.

So, I got a bit of a different outcome, didn’t I?