This past Saturday evening, I drove into Hollywood (which I hate to do on weekends) because a friend of mine was screening his film.
The film is “The Sublime And Beautiful” and it is written by/directed by/starring Blake Robbins. I have gotten to know Blake a bit. He was a guest on the podcast I work for so I know a lot about his story. It was awesome to get to see him again and to watch his film on the big screen.
I’ve also seen the film before. Without giving much away, the film deals with the aftermath of a drunk driving accident (not caused by the main character).
This film is truly incredible to watch. I highly recommend everyone sees it. It is currently screening through this week in LA, but you can see future screening dates on their website.
But for me, this film has another meaning.
When I was 6, I was involved in a drunk driving accident. My brother and I were being driven by our babysitter. My parents had been on a vacation and we were going to surprise them at the airport. We made a quick stop at Taco Bell for dinner (this was the first and last time I ate at Taco Bell). And then we were off to the airport.
I was sitting in the back with my brother and our babysitter’s dog Pierre. We were trying to make Pierre sit in the middle seat and wear a seatbelt when a drunk driver ran a red light and slammed into our car.
I know that some people might not think that you can remember something really well from when you were 6, but I remember so much from the accident. I remember the sound that the car made as it was hit. I remember screaming to my brother to duck and cover because I was so sure that this was an earthquake (the 1989 San Francisco quake was the year before and clearly that stuck out in my head). I remember how it felt like forever before the car stopped moving.
Another car stopped and came to help us. They got my brother and I out of the car and someone waited with our babysitter who was up in the front. I don’t remember how they found Pierre, but I learned later that by my brother and I trying to make him wear a seatbelt, we probably saved the dog’s life. If his foot hadn’t gotten caught in it (and made him hit the door of the car), he probably would have gone through the windshield.
The paramedics came quickly (or at least it felt quickly to me). Our babysitter was on one backboard and my brother and I shared another. As the paramedics were taping our heads to the backboard, I remember screaming at them that they had to take us to Kaiser because that’s where my dad worked and that’s what our insurance was.
At the hospital, my brother and were checked out and we were both fine. My brother had a cut lip and I don’t remember any injuries for myself besides bruises. Our babysitter was hurt a bit more, but she was fine.
It seems like in most car accidents, the drunk driver lives and the victims in the other car die. In our accident, the drunk driver died.
I know that I should feel horrible that someone died, but I just remember hearing from someone (I’m not sure who said this to me) that we were lucky that that is how the outcome was. Not only did we live, we did not have to go through a trial with the drunk driver. Now that I’m older, I occasionally think about the drunk driver (whose name I don’t even know) and what their family must have gone through. Even though they did something wrong, their family still lost a loved one.
If you haven’t been personally affected by drunk driving, you are so incredibly lucky. To this day, I will almost never drink if I have to drive. And if I do drink, I usually make sure that I only drink one and that I have at least 2 or 3 hours before I have to drive. I’d rather be over-cautious than to have a horrible accident happen.
The story in “The Sublime and Beautiful” is heartbreaking to watch, but I feel like it is something that everyone should see. Maybe if more people saw how doing something so stupid could affect so many people, they would think twice about drinking and driving.
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