My magic spell to avoid a Tet drinking binge

I have many relatives and during the previous Tet, and I always got dead drunk from a lot of parties with them.

This year was different. I had no alcohol during the first three days of Tet, considered the most important, with a lot of parties and home greetings.

I served people tea instead of beer or wine, and when someone forced me to drink alcohol, I asked them to give me VND7 million (US$286) of lucky money to pay the DUI fine. The highest range of DUI fines for motorcyclists is VND6-8 million.

All my relatives gave up upon my request.

In previous years, when drunk driving penalties were not strictly enforced, I had no good reason to turn down offers for Tet drinking parties.

This year, anti-DUI campaigns have been all over the news and television channels, so everyone understands that there's a high chance they will be fined for driving after drinking.

And every one of my relatives accepted that I would leave their house without having any beer.

Some of my relatives could not spend the holiday without drinking, so they brought their wives along to drive them back.

Everyone always knows that it’s not safe to drive under the influence of alcohol, but they only follow the rules now that penalties are strictly enforced.