Waiting on a cab

If you drink, don't drive. That's the message that's pounded into our heads. That's why bars give out free non-alcoholic drinks to designated drivers and why some of them provide cab rides for patrons on holiday weekends.

A father and daughter in Montgomery County (Texas) were ready to let off some steam after Thanksgiving and decided to go to a sports bar near The Woodlands. Knowing that they would be downing a few, they took a cab to the bar and planned to take a cab back home.

So far, so good. Responsibility. Not so fast, though.

We are talking about Montgomery County, you know.

When it was time to leave the bar, dad and daughter called a cab and waited outside in the parking lot for it to arrive. While waiting for their cab at 1am, a deputy asked them what they were doing. They told the deputy they were waiting for a cab. The deputy told them if it didn't get there in 10 minutes he would arrest them for public intoxication.

Now maybe the deputy doesn't understand that the Houston-area was made for cars and driving. There are no cabs driving around waiting on fares. Unless you are at the airport or some of the fancier hotels around town, you have to call for a cab and wait for the nearest available one to arrive.

So, there in the parking lot, waiting on their cab, father and daughter were arrested, handcuffed and hauled off to the county jail. The best the district attorney could come up with was to suggest that the pair should have waited inside the bar.

Unbelievable.