My first Breathalyzer

I had my first experience this weekend with the dreaded Breathalyzer. You see, in Sioux Falls, they like to do sobriety checkpoints – meaning they force you to stop and blow. Since I work at the newspaper, I knew this was going on, but it completely slipped my mind.

So I went out after work on Saturday night with a few co-workers. I had one beer – though it was a tall Blue Moon, probably about 20 ounces or so. I left the bar at 2 a.m., and hopped on the interstate to head back to my apartment. And that's when I hit the checkpoint. I had to stop, and one of the scores of officers who were out there came up to my car and asked if I had been drinking. I decided it was in my best interest to tell the truth, since I figured that I'd probably be Breathalyzed no matter what.

So I explained, yes, I had one tall beer at Bostons and that I had just left there. I blew a .05 – which was pretty surprising to me, since I figured it probably would've been lower than that. But now I know, I can't drink more than one tall or two small beers and still drive.

But the stupidest part of this whole thing was that they wouldn't let me drive home, even though I wasn't drunk. They said I had to join the long line of slightly tipsy drivers pulled off to the side of the road and call someone to come get me and drive my car home – no easy feat at 2 in the morning.

So then I have to spend about an hour parked on the side of the interstate waiting for a ride in my cold car until Sean comes to pick me up – after hopping over a 7-foot high fence and walking up to the Interstate. We then drove back to his car, and I hopped back in the driver's seat of my car and drove home – what were they going to do, arrest me? I already knew I wasn't drunk.