I'd like to add that I didn't drink often before, and haven't for the past year because they instructed me not to after this incident. As I said, I have worked with children for the past five years in a psychological field; I have been a youth counselor, a daycare teacher, and a mental health worker where I was exposed to accutely mentally disturbed (very violent) children...and I'm fully aware of the effects that drug use has on society. Technically speaking, I am not an alcoholic, as the state would like for me to believe, but this incident involves drinking and has created problems for me. So by definition, I have a "drinking problem."
Many of you are telling me to get a good lawyer: trust to know that I do have a good lawyer. I had no idea I could refuse a field sobriety test. I had no idea I could refuse to blow into a breathalizer. This is my first DWI offense, but despite everything that my attorney can argue in my defense, I blew a .2223. (.08 is the legal limit and anything .4 or higher is where alcohol poisoning begins.) The long list of shit that I provided is the plea bargain and if I went before a judge or jury they would most likely tack on more years of probation.
The main problem is that this incident has put my life on pause for the next three years. I cannot work in the field that I am (I say this without blinking) overqualified in and I'm not experience in anything else. In order to pay these fines, I must work, and in order to work I must start over completely and find entry level positions.
The highest paying job, and the easiest, I could find right now is a position as a cocktail waitress at a gentleman's club. I've been there for two weeks now, serving the same poison that fucked up my life, albeit making good money.
I can tell that some of you did not read what I posted in it's entirety, but thankyou to those who did and replied without flippantly telling me something that isn't true: i.e. I am not mad at Texas. lmao I'm not mad at anyone over this. I don't really get angry.
After working in a place for several years where a child will punch you in the face (oh, yes, I've been punched many a time by a retarded child) for near nothing, I don't get angry or upset over stressful situations.
Again, thankyou for your opinions.