August 9: Busted in Austin

Busted Beauties. Hansom Hooligans. DWIs and POCSs. In Austin, all of these can be linked with one another through a little piece of print media called Busted in Austin. For a mere dollar you can own the eight to ten page spread of mugshots from every criminal arrest that took place in the previous week. Recognize that cute blonde in the "Busted Beauties" section? Well you don't have to search your memory for too long because Busted has done you the favor of including her first and last name to accompany her charge. The magazine is literally nothing but mugshots, names, and charges.

The first time I heard about Busted was when I overheard a fellow employee telling a group of co-workers that he had found the mugshot of a girl we work with. I couldn't believe that there was a magazine of this nature. Was this legal? It seemed like an invasion of privacy to post a picture with a first and last name and make a profit. What with Facebook and Myspace, a first and last name and the Internet can get the wrong person a lot of information.

A person is caught driving under the influence. Because of this mistake, he has to pay for an attorney and countless other fines, loses his license, must attend alcohol classes, has a mark on his record, and now has to put up with the ridicule from anyone that purchases the magazine? It seemed a little harsh. I could understand it if the crime was child molestation or murder, but driving with a buzz?

Maybe it was because people that I knew were being featured. I saw the effects of this publication on the people that I worked with every day. I spoke with people that were proud to be featured in Hansom Hooligans and I saw the ashamed expressions of countless strangers being forced to pose. These were real people that were being exploited for the entertainment of anyone.

Then something snapped. What was I thinking? These people are criminals. It didn't matter if they were slightly inebriated or if they were in possession of a controlled substance. The law is the law. When I told my parents about it, my dad asked, "What about the kid that was killed by a drunk driver? Do you think his parents cared if the driver was embarrassed to be in a magazine?" I couldn't have said it better.

Yeah, I'm sure it sucks to be called out by co-workers. It's something that I never want to experience. And you know what? I'm going to think about that the next time I'm contemplating one more beer before going home? Is it worth it? Is that five minutes of extended buzz worth the money I don't have or the kind of fame I don't want? Not for me.