If there’s one day out of the year, here in McHenry, when it’s okay to let your hair down and get a little wild, it’s New Year’s Eve. It’s almost mandatory. No one will blame you if you drink a little too much, or a lot. They won’t care if you whoop and holler at Midnight. The crazy paper hat on your head will appear as appropriate as the big smile on your face.

If you drive, however, while imbibing a bit too much, there is one group that will not be understanding. They won’t say, “Well, it’s New Year’s Eve. You’re just having fun.”

To make matters worse, this group will spend the night of festivities prowling the roads of McHenry looking for revelers who have carried their celebrating to a seat behind the steering wheel of the car, truck or SUV. They are so unforgiving that they’ll go out of their way to ruin your fun while giving you a great-big headache for the year ahead.

McHenry has holiday spoilsports with badges and unforgiving attitudes

This group of spoil-sports has a tendency to dress in similar fashion. They generally wear plain clothes, often with a tie that matches the color of their shirts. They wear hats, customarily peaked hats that are a little intimidating. And all of them wear a metal pin on their shirts. The pin is large and in the shape of a shield or a 6-point star.

There are words etched onto ribbons molded into the front of the pin. Those words customarily go something like this: “Patrolman” – “Sergeant” – “Chief.” Then they’ll have the name of a community: “McHenry” – “Woodstock” – “Crystal Lake” – “McHenry County” – “Illinois”.

These people drive in distinctly marked vehicles with words painted on the sides that are similar to the words etched on the badges. They have lights that can flash bright from the top of the vehicle. And they carry some unique tools of their trade: batons, handcuffs, flashlights (the better to shine them in your eyes), and handguns. They also carry specialized pads of paper and pens.

On those pads of paper they can write words that will have dramatic effects on your life in 2020, should you cross paths with these party-poopers as you’re driving while celebrating.

When they put an end to your fun, they’ll call on someone with another specialized vehicle. These vehicles have the capacity to lift one side of your vehicle off the ground so they can tow your vehicle to a yard somewhere that requires a fee before you can get it back. But, if you interact with these folks on New Year’s Eve, you may not need your car for the rest of 2020, or for a while after that.

Unfortunately, these tow trucks also arrive on the scene if the badge-wearing officials don’t stop you in time. Not stopping you in time means coming to the scene of an alcohol- or drug-induced accident. In these cases, the towing vehicles are joined by other vehicles with flashing lights on top. These vehicles transport passengers to hospitals for emergency care. Or, they transport passengers to hospitals where coroners conduct autopsies.

Enjoy New Year’s Eve fun in McHenry worry free

The solution to having a great New Year’s Eve without worrying about badge-wearing spoil-sports ruining your fun, without injury and/or fatal accidents destroying lives, is to ensure that you don’t get behind the wheel of your vehicle while imbibing.

You can have a designated driver – someone who doesn’t drink – to bring you back home. But why spoil their fun? Why not go out in style? Why not hire a limousine service as a carriage with style this New Year’s Eve? McHenry Limo stands ready to help.