Imagine the Headline

         By Gene Aronowitz

 

As Commissioner of Community Mental Health, I was responsible for services for people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, and, most relevant regarding this memoir, services to people involved in drug and alcohol abuse.

I had to go to a seemingly endless number of annual meetings and fundraisers, almost all of which served food and many of which had alcoholic beverages. At one event, I had a little too much to drink, just a little, and at about ten or eleven o’clock that night was swerving slightly on my way home. A New York State police officer pulled me over. He asked me if I had a few drinks that evening. I was fully coherent and said that I had. Seeing that my car had official plates, he asked if I was a public official. I told him who I was, and he said, “Can you imagine the headline if you are caught driving drunk?” I said I could, and he replied, “OK. Get home safely.”

I appreciated the courtesy and was always more careful about drinking.