BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS OWNER
Hello Elmore/Autauga News readers and friends! I want to wish you a very happy New Year’s Eve, and hope that blessings come to you throughout the New Year.
But I also have to be really honest about something. Tonight I will be a little anxious.
I started writing for newspapers when I was 16. Do that math, and that is 36 years now. (I will be doing Geritol Shooters at midnight…just saying.)
New Year’s Eve is one of those holidays that usually make me work, and not in a good way.
This year is even a little more interesting, because with the COVID-19 Pandemic, things look very different as most celebrations go. The forecast is calling for rain, and possible storms, so there is that aspect.
Combine that weather threat with the very real guarantee that someone in our area will be driving under the influence, be it alcohol or some other mind-altering drug. Maybe like so many times before, they will make it home without an incident. Maybe they won’t.
There are going to be domestic violence calls. This is not a maybe….there will be. Maybe it will be a verbal confrontation with no injuries. Maybe not.
There will be mental health calls. While holidays are causes for celebration, it also marks spikes in depression in the real world. That being said, the National Suicide Hotline is 273-8255 (TALK). Please, call that number if you need to talk to someone.
Someone reading this right now could be in jail this time tomorrow because of a very bad decision. Or perhaps dead because of someone else’s bad decision. I really, really don’t want to have to report on any arrests, or wrecks, or deaths. This year has been tough enough on all of us.
So, think about this right now, before you go out tonight.
Make good decisions. Please. Get a designated driver if you plan on drinking. Call a taxi, an Uber or a friend. If you are at a house party, crash on a couch. Let someone know you don’t need to drive. Do not drive with someone else who has been drinking. If someone suggests you don’t need to drive, don’t get offended. Put your pride aside.
Please. Be careful out there.
Not just because it is New Year’s Eve. Make good decisions all year through. May everyone have a safe holiday. But somewhere out there tonight, bad decisions will be made. It will be in the headlines tomorrow. I just hope it isn’t ours.
We just don’t know the outcome yet. We still have time to stop it. Please don’t make me spell your name correctly unless you are saving someone, or you do something wonderful.
Law enforcement and first responders everywhere will be working and on call if an emergency occurs. May they have a boring night. I can hope.
May everyone out there have a safe night of celebration. A lot of folks are going to ring in the New Year in their pajamas on the couch. And with the year we have had, that is perfectly acceptable.
As for me, I shall be at home, police scanner going, praying there is nothing to report that involves bad news. Even this old, cynical reporter can still have hope.
Sarah Stephens founded the Elmore/Autauga News in 2015. She graduated from Louisiana Tech’s School of Journalism in 1990. She can be reached at editorsarah@yahoo.com
