"Bar Month" at OnMilwaukee.com – brought to you by Stoli Vodka, Altos Tequila, Fireball, OR-G, Jim Beam, Plymouth Gin and 2 Gingers – is back for another round! The whole month of February, we're serving up intoxicatingly fun articles on bars and clubs – including guides, the latest trends, bar reviews, the results of our Best of Bars poll and more. Grab a designated driver and dive in!
Of all the local stories that come across our news feeds, one titled "Hard lesson for otherwise law-abiding man who drove drunk," really made me think.
Nutshell. Out for a few beers. Boom. Killed a young woman, and the driver's off to jail. Maurice Lard, 48 was, "a regular hardworking, churchgoing, married Milwaukee man. In June, he drove after leaving two bars and he ran into another car, killing 19-year-old Julian Hicks."
Many of us have done it. Drink, drive. No problem. Wisconsin seems to practically condone it with its mild rules and slap on the wrists for first time offenders. Wisconsin, if you didn't know, is the only state in the union that does not criminalize a first OWI offense. Drinking and driving is wrong. It's sad. It's incredibly dangerous. And, we shouldn't even have to mention that it's also against the law.
My general rule of thumb is no more than two drinks on a night out when I'm driving. Maybe 10 years ago, I'd break this rule often but now, never.
I really don't drink that much anymore even though I love beer, and do enjoy sampling all the new brands and flavors. But, the risks and even some of the hang overs just aren't worth it and stories like Maurice's scare me. Sadly, as an alcohol counselor told Jim Stingl, the journalist who did the story about Maurice Lard, many aren't scared by such stories.
I'm not perfect, and probably like you I've driven when I shouldn't have. But, today there's just no excuse to do so. So, don't.
My dear Milwaukeeans (and others), as Bar Month at OnMilwaukee.com enters its final week let's cheer and relax in our favorite spots. But, don't drink and drive. Just don't. Never. Thanks.
A life-long and passionate community leader and Milwaukeean, Jeff Sherman is a co-founder of OnMilwaukee.
He grew up in Wauwatosa and graduated from Marquette University, as a Warrior. He holds an MBA from Cardinal Stritch University, and is the founding president of Young Professionals of Milwaukee (YPM)/Fuel Milwaukee.
Early in his career, Sherman was one of youngest members of the Greater Milwaukee Committee, and currently is involved in numerous civic and community groups - including board positions at The Wisconsin Center District, Wisconsin Club and Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. He's honored to have been named to The Business Journal's "30 under 30" and Milwaukee Magazine's "35 under 35" lists.
He owns a condo in Downtown and lives in greater Milwaukee with his wife Stephanie, his son, Jake, and daughter Pierce. He's a political, music, sports and news junkie and thinks, for what it's worth, that all new movies should be released in theaters, on demand, online and on DVD simultaneously.
He also thinks you should read OnMilwaukee each and every day.
