Booze!
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Some Things Should Be Left In College
On Sunday night I threw back a couple, OK several, shots, had a couple beers, walked home, woke up at 9am & then killed a couple interviews. Shout out to everyone who gave me shot suggestions by the way. Now some would call this functional alcoholism. Others would say it’s the consequence of a solid college education. Forget information, college is all about learning how to drink & not make an ass of yourself in the process. I’ve had my setbacks (who hasn’t?), but dammit I think I’m doing pretty well overall. It’s a good thing too because contrary to popular belief the boozing doesn’t stop in college. I would argue it only gets worse after you graduate.
I hear a lot of college seniors saying their lives will be over once they graduate. That it’s all downhill from there. What’s worse are the alumni that are confirming it & saying that their lives really are miserable. For shame. Sure working for the man, or wo-man, isn’t ideal; but it isn’t the Green Mile either. If anything that gig only inspires more drinking and partying. College students and depressed workers of the world, here’s some easy mathematics for you I hope more than 5 percent of you will get it. Take everyone you party with now, give them more disposable income, a somewhat daunting life & then throw in with a bunch of other people from random colleges who’ve also developed a drinking habit and a few other habits as well. Oh yeah, add Happy Hour & older coworkers who want to forget about their lives at home learn about you & your goals in life. What does that give you? A great effing time that’s what.
Those of you in entertainment based industries should also know about comped drinks or reps. You thought drinking for cheap on college is cool, well wait until someone sponsors your alcoholism. You’ll never want to pay for a drink again. & if you play your cards right or become friends with someone in advertising, music or film, you’ll never have to.
Then you have Christmas Parties. As any working person can tell you they’re the The Super Bowl, no, the WrestleMania Steel Cage Match of work parties. Have you seen a married 40 something year old man make out with a fresh out of college assistant before? That my friend is hilarious. Have you ever seen your coworkers wobbling in a corner while they try to regain consciousness? It’s like watching a real life Mortal Kombat character.
Oh & it’s March Madness time too? Ha! Here’s a little known fact & well hidden fact – American productivity will fall in the upcoming weeks. You remember that guy that used to go to the games with his whole body painted? Or the one that would get wrecked & then belligerently yell once he got outside. Or the guys who used to point to fingers in the sky while brashly standing in front on a Navigator? Yeah, they’re also in Corporate America. Some are even executives now. Trust, they will be taking random breaks throughout the day to watch the game(s) at the nearest watering hole & if you’re lucky you’ll be right there with them as they buy those rounds. If you went to a school with a great team, ahem Syracuse, you should block out time now, have your Out Of Office ready & prepare your liver.
Listen, all I’m trying to say is that things aren’t that bad post-college. If you were planning on packing up your coozie & leaving your drinking days behind you – think again. My jersey is far from going in the rafters & neither are my squads’. Only difference is once you’re out of school, you can’t just skip class. Great thing is that everyone else at work on Friday is tired too. Hello long lunch!
Is it just me or are you having as much fun as when you were in college? Different fun, but still fun. For those still in school, are you really afraid it’s all over? And what’s your favorite drunk memory? I’m sure we all have more than a few stories to tell.
Seattle – All Orange Everything – Washington
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i’ve been known to indulge in a drink or ten. i remember the first time i got drunk like it was yesterday. sophomore year of college, pajama jam. lol good times. i didn’t drink hardly as much as i do now. *shrug* you would think i was part russian.
i’ll keep my drunken stories to myself. but i’ll have fun reading y’all stories.
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I just can’t stand the taste of any kind of alcoholic bevarage. I’ve never been drunk… never seen a drunk person [in person]. I skipped college after high school (but now I’m in it) so, this post was over my head but I always find it a tad bit interesting
and scarywhen ppl say they love to drink… and to drink a lot. It’s like, Wow! You can handle that much?Reply
I got nice and buzzed 2 years ago on my birthday…before that, the last time I was actually drunk I was in college…and in Tijuana…very interesting endeavor, lmao…whoo memories!
But I’m with N Aimee above. I don’t really like drinking anymore. I don’t know if I ever really did. It was more about the thrill of being under 21 and having access to something I wasn’t supposed to. Now at $7-$10 buck a pop…I’m good. And I hate the morning after hangover…ugh. No thanks!
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I had an ok college experience, it would have been better if I wasn’t broke all the time. My first year out of college was phenomenal. I was newly single after 3 years, the timing couldn’t have been better. A bunch of my friends and I came in entry level in a big firm in the city, we worked hard but partied Thursday to Sunday. College has nothing on being able to get fresh outfits every week, stepping out with that corporate AMEX and buying drinks all night (good drinks not the cheap shit you drink in college) and meeting like minded people (not just the losers who live in the dorms lol). I don’t get around the entertainment industry much, but free drinks were definitely flowing back then, it was mostly from guys in corporate who were “a friend of a friend” and liked the idea of being surrounded by good looking girls. That was the peak, but eventually you get some damn sense and realize partying like that will get you burned out really quick, your corporate bill comes and you have to pay that bad boy in full each month and the boys that were buying finally realize they are getting no play and look at you bitterly from across the bar.
At this point I’m so bored with the social scene, I hate clubs and I hardly go to happy hours anymore. I just think I’m at a different place in my life and I’m ready to calm down.
Funny drinking story, an affinity group at my old firm had a summer BBQ and one of the chairs invited a group of maybe 10 people back to her condo for drinks. I was at her condo for a few hours when a Senior Manager I’d never met before showed up. I really don’t remember the nigh, all I know was people were pouring and I was drinking. About a year later I was at a conference and someone introduces me to the same Senior Manager, I thought maybe I had met him before or maybe I’d just heard his name before. He on the other hand was like “I’ve met you before” and started listing off possible places or events where we could have met but based on my schedule I knew those weren’t possible. Eventually it clicked that I had met him when I was a drunken mess and couldn’t even remember, later when I ran into him again I just said “I remember where we met” he was like “me too”…it was so awkward, I still don’t remember much from the night we met.
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I don’t know if I’m having more fun, or just “grown woman with a job” fun. Office Christmas parties are great, though I prefer the house party. My immediate supervisor had a great Christmas party last year with great food, and all the alcohol you could dream of. Not to mention the best Eggnog this side of the Mason-Dixon line. Seriously, the right eggnog can put you on your back.
The first time I got really drunk happened while I was visiting at Stanford during my Junior year. And it happened at a party the Jewish frat hosted. SMH.lol. That night, I learned what it truly meant to be drunk. lol. I can’t remember a time I got completely wasted while I was a student at Spelman. Even during Homecoming, I tried to keep my drinking in check… while I was still a student.
My favorite drunk memory, Homecoming… Omega tent, Sigma tent, parking deck roof, Sigma tent, nap until party. A lot happened in between all of that.
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I don’t drink nearly as much in grad school as I did in undergrad. Mainly because I have less disposable income now compared to then. But i certainly feel like drinking far more in grad school. Gotta make friends in professional schools, they always have something involving booze. I do wish the buses ran later at night so i can really get wasted lol. Oh well *eyes bottle of jack daniels on the bookshelf*
J-”Duke all day, Syracuse who?” Full
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This post is the perfect time to get this off my chest before Eff em Friday!
A TWELVE SEED IS SLAP IN THE FACE! Ask Jay Bilas… Elite 8 baby! (At least on one of my sheets. I aint stupid ninja).
Back to the topic at hand:
I can really feel Seattle on this one. Working adds a new dimension to the party scene. And some of these after work parties in the City can really top the wknds.
The main problem is that with all the extra stress, I don’t LIVE for the moment the way I use to. Plus people get SO and don’t chase tail as much. But I got to co-sign the entertainment field parties. While these parties tend to not be the greatest b/c everyone is too cool for school, they have the baddest chicks and the comp drinks. I’m like Teira Marie, I need a sponsor before I can go out.
That frat boy college party keg stand 2520 party life/Asher Roth I love college music video/Animal House. Good healthy fun. A ton of Black Educated Professionals (BEPs) stick their noses up to it: “I can’t get drunk for any reason. That is so immature.” What they can’t understand is that experiencing that lifestyle helps you relate to your 2520 co-workers. If you only have fun the ‘black way’ you are cutting yourself off. Any good anthropologist would tell you that you have to be in a culture before you can evaluate it. I actually really excited b/c wifey is doing three years at a major SEC school. Now I can get that major college football experience I missed out on staying in the Northeast.
“When am I visiting? Well can you get me tickets to when UFLA comes to town”
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Seattle Washington Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 9:41 am
You’re right Cheekz. About the entertainment parties that is. Cornell is going to the 2nd round tops. Let’s go Cuse!
Anyway, I can’t stand those too cool for school parties. But most of the time those are the Buppie Entertainment parties. If you go to the ones that are more of a mixed crowd, you’ll have more fun and for free.
And uhh, let me know if you end up going down for a game. I heard about SEC tailgating from some co-workers.
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CHeeKZ Money Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 2:02 pm
We can beat Wisconsin!
And those Hipster White boys love to pop pills and give out free ishh.
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Can’t NOBODY drink like the old folks drink, lol. I’ve seen more of my s.o.’s male family members get put down by grandpa than a little. My favorite grandpa line: “These young fools don’t know drankin’ ain’t a contest!” as he sips a huge tumbler of straight Haitian rum. Drinkin’ with gramps is a right of passage in their family.
I would say that I had more fun in college, but that the good times are better now that I’m older. Certainly more appreciated. And like most commenters over 30, I’ve pretty much hung up my clubbin’ shoes in favor of house parties and backyard bbq’s.
My funny drinking story: My ace took me to a holiday party at the home of one of her company’s wealthy clients. The mansion was HUGE, had an elevator and what looked like an exotic car lot in the 2 story garage. I’m thinking this is about to be an uptight evening, and it was at first. Until they pulled out the mason jar with peach moonshine, lol. Next thing you know, we’re all in the garage playing tip cup with that booty call line dance song on repeat. Three hours later all you see is red faces and a few people stumbling towards bushes. Dang white folks know how to party, lol.
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I dont remember the first time I got drunk. MY mom says I was around 6 or 7. She was having a drink while making dinner on a Friday night. She left her glass on the table and went to check on the food. I ran up to the table and drank a whole glass of wine at 7 years old. She said it was simultaneously one of the funniest and scariest times in her life.
I party alot less than I did in college but what I did notice is that I party much harder than I did when I do now. The two homecomings I’ve experienced since graduation were far better than the 4 I had in college. If anyone was in NY on Dec 30th and went to that party, we were the dudes crowd surfing.
The disposable income allows me to experiment w/ new variations to the ancient oil recipe. You havent had oil until you’ve had “Top Shelf Oil”.
I dont do happy hours (I try to stay in the gym and cut the costs) but please see me on a Friday.
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The Honorable Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele LLC, Destined for Greatness Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 9:10 am
“The disposable income allows me to experiment w/ new variations to the ancient oil recipe. You havent had oil until you’ve had “Top Shelf Oil”.”
Roo to the good bruhz that make the good top shelf oil. It’s like heaven in a bottle. Or actually in a 52 gallon garbage can…
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While I was in college I had a paid internship at a top lawfirm in NYC. Boy I partied and drank more in those three months probably than my whole life till that point. The summer office party allowed me to experience all the top shelf hooch my heart could desire. Johnny walker blue is the shiznit! As well as the one that come in the bottle that rocks. Good times. And I learned why a lot of lawfirms begin their day at 9:30
I’m about to start a new job in the legal field and look forward to the debauchery that will occur. And during the summer all the exclusive rooftop affairs, it’s gon git ignant. Lol especially bc the new job starts at 10am.
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Patrice Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 12:48 pm
Oh man! NO.BODY. parties like attorneys and their support staff, that I will proclaim from the highest peak!
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No! Life doesn’t end in college. It only gets better. You thought turning 21 was great (because you could finally go to the ABC store and not have to rely on the plastic bottle vodka come-up from some upperclassman that was making a “run”)….wait ’til you’re an adult! The happy hours are great and if you are a lady you can probably swindle your way to functionally drunkedness! So better liquor…and less money spent on it is the win! And then there’s the office Christmas parties…I’m sure the traditional after hours situation where employees bring their spouses is all good, but my team does those mid-day white elephant parties where everyone is nearly coming to blows to end the game with the coveted bottles of liquory-goodness. Have you ever seen a room full of our light friends >age 45 fighting over a bottle of REMY? Pure HILARITY!
…Toni “Syracuse should only wear orange because BLUE is reserved for REAL TEAMS” Childs…
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RightCoastLexSteele Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 11:25 am
Apparently that UN Real team scored a #1 seed. Weeeeirrrd.
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Toni Childs Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 11:32 am
@RightCoastLexSteele
just a little friendly jest…
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RightCoastLexSteele Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 11:49 am
It’s all good, no offense taken at all. This is definitely a time of year where friends become enemies and enemies that went to school together like each other for a few weeks. And what “Real” school wears blue, pray tell?
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Toni Childs Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:22 pm
Why, Duke Of course!
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RightCoastLexSteele Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
That’s legit. Carry on.
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CHeeKZ Money Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
i’LL eat out a fat girl if Duke goes deeper than Cornell this year.
YEAH I BELIEVE!
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Seattle Washington Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 2:39 pm
Wow. Just wow.
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I definitely am having more fun drinking than in college. One too many bad experiences with drunk friends turned me off from ever drinking in college. We popped sodas at my 21st.
I didn’t really drink until a finals week party my senior year. Someone kept providing me with a nice mixture of rum and sweet tea in a big red plastic cup. For some reason I was drinking like it was water. Finally the buzz hit me, and I could barely walk. I drunk dialed everybody in my phone, including my momma, by the time I got home. And I left a random message for the guy I was digging. My bff was nice enough to listen to me ramble on about her dog’s ears before telling me to go to bed. The next morning, I thought I was dying. It was the worse hangover in the history of Tonikind. And to top it off I had to work. The only thing that seemed to ease the pain was crepes from IHOP.
Since then I’ve drunk a lot more (never white boy wasted), but I usually can count on one hand the number of times a year. I mainly drink during get togethers with my friends. The difference between now and college is I don’t have to worrying about watching everyone like a mother hen. We’re all responsible drinkers now.
P.S. Shoutout to the other Toni!
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Went to a southern PWI (yes you’ve never experienced a true football season until your in the south!).
I’ve never been drunk, buzzed maybe (151 shots do that). I loooove partying with waisted 2520′s, there my friends but not so close where I have to take care of them when their wasted ya know that sux. I just like to pretend I’m drunk and dance my ass off. Can’t wait till corporate america debauchery. Cheekz is right, you have to get to know them in their element to better be able to function with them in the work force. Many of my friends who went to the HBCU next door don;t get that.
Question: I’m not a drinker so will not drinking hinder my networking abilities, since I’m not necessarily going to happy hour or getting drunk with them??
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Peyso Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
“Question: I’m not a drinker so will not drinking hinder my networking abilities, since I’m not necessarily going to happy hour or getting drunk with them??” – Naw, still go to the functions and a baby sit a drink all night. No one will notice that you arent drinking.
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Berriblk Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Ok thanks. It has come up in the past in regular social situations and some drunk would make a big deal about me not drinking. I guess it just comes off like you can’t have a good time like the rest of them if your not drinking/drunk. When they clearly see your their with them and pretty much doing as they do sans the making out with random people. I can’t.
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Seattle Washington Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Those corporate networking events are clutch, you should attend. But if you’re not a drinker grab a ginger ale (or soda of your choice), tell em to throw it in a short glass, put a lime in it with a few short straws and you’re golden. Or like Peyso said, just babysit that one drink. I’ve done both. Or you could just not drink at all. When I did that, everyone else was so messed up they didn’t notice I didn’t drink anything until I was leaving.
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Berriblk Reply:
March 16th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
haha, thanks on the tip. I’ll just make it look a like a ‘drink’.
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Patrice Reply:
March 18th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
Yup Seattle! A ginger ale or coke in a short glass works everytime…it just saves you from that whole banc-and-forth-why-aren’t-you-drinking convo!
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Viva Le Drunk!
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How fitting that I would actually be awake to participate when the topic is something I know so much about; drinking & partying! whooooo hoooooo!.
I am always gonna drink, I come from a line of drankers but I def don’t have as much fun drinking now that I did in college and law school days. Then there were always more people who were always partying….Yes, I enjoy the networking parties but nothing compares to being on the way to class and being distracted by someone handing you a plastic cup of something fruity and colorful or getting a call that there is an impromptu party going on at 10am on a Wednesday, or walking out of class to a keg being tapped in the courtyard. This just isn’t possible in the grown up world and that kinda makes the partying not as fun for me. Now its all networking and being seen and exchanging cards…i miss just getting smashed with other smashed people because we were young and stupid. Lastly, the inability to recover as quickly has also hindered my partying…no way can I go to work wasted like I used to go to class wasted
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