My S.S.W.I: Switching Seats While Intoxicated.

Drinking while driving is never a good idea. Neither is switching seats with your best friend who was driving your car while you are pulled over. Yep, that is what I did which caused me to become arrested for the first time, and well as become officially black by my friends from Huntersville.

It was Oct. 30, 2009, one day before Halloween, and one of my buddies was having a get together before he was sent off to the Navy. Well, naturally me and my friends wanted to send him a proper good bye by having a few drinks with him before he was sent off.

Well, I decided to take my friends Mike and Rodney with me to this gathering. Mike and Rodney natually didn't have a car, so I decided to drive. We drive up to Davidson and arive to our destination. Well, once we get there we procide to walk inside and I ask Rodney if he minded driving my car back home because I wanted to drink. He said he wouldn't mind, and that he would drive my car back home.

That was mistake one, If you ever decide to drive your car to a destination, you have to take the responsibily to drive your friends home as well, well being young and simply a dumb ass I didn't do that.

That get together that night was a pretty fun time. We all had a few drinks, caught out with some old friends, hung out with some German girls, but most importantly said bye to my friend Dyami who was about to be shipped out to the Navy. When the party ended, we all left with  Rodney driving my car, myself in the pansager seat, and Mike in the back seat.

Rodney then gets on I-77 south bound heading a few miles towards are exit in Huntersville. He was sober enough to drive, so I wasn't worried at all about him crashing my car, or worst which would for him to harm another individual. He naturally turns up some Lil Wayne, and start blasting "Best Rapper Alive". He contineue to drive below the speed limit until all of a sudden he screams out, "Holy Shit." I then realize a Cop is flashing his lights behind us as Rodney slows down and pulls over the side of the of the interstate.

Once Rodney pulls over the car, he then turns to me and says, "Oh shit, I don't have a licence, switch seats with me."

Let me mention this right quickly. I temporally forgot that my friend did not have a licence when he volunteered to drive my car home.  Again, when I gave my permission to drive my car, I forget he did not have a licence. I do not understand why he would volunteer to drive my car if he did not have a valid licence. But that's beside the point. Anyway, back to my story.

Well, I then decide to switch seats with my friend. Yes, I switch seats in front of two cops in a tiny Jetta with my friend. It was more then obvious that the cops saw us, went up to both Rodney and I, told us to get out of the car, and arrested us on the spot. We get assisted to the back of the cop car where he drives us off to the police station a mile away. As for our friend Mike who was in the back of the car at the time, the cops leave him on the side of the interstate for him to find a ride.

Rodney then said the funniest thing in my life. He turns to me and says "Devin, your officially black now, you finally got arressted." I then bust out laughing in the back of the cop car.

We continue to drive to the police station and the cops question start questioning about the night.. We then proceeds to tell the cops the story of why we switch seats. Soon after the cop turns to me and says these words. "Props to you kids for looking out for your buddy, I would of probably have done the same thing when I was your age."

Well, I guess I'm glad the cop the same cop that arrested me was in approval of the situation that caused me to get arrested by him. But that didn't stop him from taking us downtown and having us wait to be bailed out by our friend's sister.

I ended up losing my licence for a month and had to go to court. While this was the first time I  was ever arrested, I ended up using my prayer for judgement and got off with only a fine under 200 dollars and single driving class. It wasn't until after after my court date that I found out the reason why we got arrested.

And the reason is because my dad had a warrant for his arrested. Apparently my dad just decide not to go to court two years after being sued over a misunderstanding between himself and former therapist of mine.

-Don't ask why my dad got sued by my therapist. I can proudly say it didn't have anything to do with me though.The reason can be possibly be relieved in a future blog post.-

Well, since my car is in both mine and my fathers name, when the cops ran our licence plate, it notified them that my father had a warrant for his arrest. That caused the cops to have a probable cause to pull us over.

Yes, the reason why we got pulled over was not even because of  my friends driving. It was because my dad just didn't go to court. And the reason why I got a D.W.I was not because I was driving while intoxicated, It was because I decided to switch seats with my friend who was.

And was this experience worth it. Yes, It motivated me to stop partying so much and get my shit together in school as well as made me realize that life is more then just the next drunken outing. This D.W.I made me realize I am at a point in my life where I need to start focusing on what I need to progress to the next step in life. In short, this D.W.I caused me to mature as a person really fast.

But most importantly,all my friends from my hometown which have been calling me white for years; well being arrested for this D.W.I. caused them officially recognize me as a Black Man.

And you don't really understand how important that is to someone who hasbeen  called white for the last 7 years of your life.