A Quest For Responsibility
Chris Cook thought it was pretty cool that the woman didn’t mind buying a case of beer for him and his underage friends. Until he got drunk, climbed 70 feet up a tree and fell out.
“There are people here in Spirit Lake who see nothing wrong with providing kids with beer, whiskey, marijuana,” growls Sam Cook, a mountain of a man. His 16-year-old son’s broken ribs and pelvis still are mending after the Oct. 18 fall. The boy may lose his kidney.
“They never see anything happen to their families,” says Marie Cook. “Well, this time it happened to my family.”
The Cooks say Chris, who’s recuperating now at home, has nothing to say about the accident.
The boys won’t tell their parents who bought them the beer. But Sam and Marie think they know. They want the woman to help pay their son’s $20,000 medical bill. They want witnesses to speak up.
“People need to be aware of the consequences of their actions,” Marie says, cuddling her infant granddaughter.
Sam and Marie admit their son shares the blame for his accident. But he’s paid a painful price to learn about alcohol’s power, and the woman who bought it for him walked away unscathed and, most likely, unrepentant.
“I want her stopped before she kills someone,” Sam says through clenched teeth.
Sam spent 27 years in U.S. Air Force police work before retiring in 1986. Drunks were an everyday stop for him. He slices his open hand across his throat to show what happened to six drunk teenagers after their car plowed into the back of a semi-truck.
He can’t forget the young drunk soldier heading back to base when his car careened off a winding road and exploded.
Sam cautioned Scouts and school kids about drugs and alcohol, then found out the lessons didn’t take hold in his own home.
Sam says some townspeople are calling him a crybaby for blaming his son’s problems on the woman who bought the beer.
“I know if I find witnesses and take her to court, it’ll probably make me one of the most hated people in town,” he says. But he shrugs. “They’re not thinking their kid could be next.”
Give us some credit
January mailbox-phobia is not unusual, according to Consumer Credit Counseling Service. We all know what awaits us in those VISA envelopes.
But we don’t have to stay credit-card slaves. Here’s one way the non-profit service suggests regaining control: place your credit card in a plastic bag, then in a cup. Fill the cup with water and put it in the freezer. Good way to control impulse spending. If things are beyond these solutions, call (800) 892-6854 and the service will hook you up with a counselor.
Don’t bug me
Coeur d’Alene’s Shirley Singleton knew she’d raised her children well when she opened her Christmas present last week. Her two kids had given her a bug grill for her new truck. What more could a mother want?
Snooze year’s eve
Where were the wild New Year’s Eve parties this year? My family bounced to the Coeur d’Alene Marimba Band and the Malidoma African drums until the hips were out of joint and the balls of the feet begged for mercy.
The under-21 crowd dominated the floor, but there were plenty of baby boomers and their parents mixed in among the 200 or so sweaty revelers. What did we miss, besides the Jan. 1 hangover?
Relive your year-end soiree for Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene, ID, 83814; FAX to 765-7149; or call 765-7128.
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo