Matt RubinA few days ago, my sister, who is a freshman at the University of Rochester, told me a very interesting story. One Saturday, after a round of partying and general good, clean fun, my sister retired to bed at around 1 a.m. At 3 a.m., she was woken up by someone crawling into bed with her and promptly passing out. Shocked, she poked him repeatedly in order to wake him up, and, after 10 minutes or so, was able to kick him out of bed. He stumbled out of the room. As it turns out, he was so drunk that he couldn’t remember which room was his – he lives at the opposite end of the hallway.
Sound familiar? I have definitely heard this story before, perhaps three or four times during my freshman year. And each time it is hilarious. My sister couldn’t stop giggling when she told me what happened. But once she calmed down, she said something that got me thinking: “Yeah, he’s a total idiot. Nice and all, but such a jackass.” So, from that night on, this formerly nice guy has been known as “that idiot” by my sister and her friends. Not the best way to be remembered.
Now, I am not against drinking. Far from it. Although I choose not to partake, most of my friends do, and I end up busting a gut at their crazy antics. And, besides, alcohol is usually the only way I can get my friends to dance maniacally around our living room with me. But, in my two plus years here, I have never had to call EST on anyone, or deal with someone crawling into my bed at three in the morning. My friends definitely enjoy drinking, but not to the point where they completely lose control and do something they either regret in the morning, or can’t even remember. I am not against drinking. I am against stupidity.
On a campus where drinking is a large part of the social culture, and gossip spreads faster than the news feed on Facebook, the best way to get your name out there is to do something crazy. Who isn’t intrigued by notoriety? But there is a downside to this instant fame. First impressions count for a lot, and I’m not speaking of the “Hi, my name is Harry” variety. Everyone remembers that freshman who, at the first frat party of the year, got so wasted that he was puking on the lawn in front of the frat house for all to see. And don’t forget last year, when a girl was so drunk she tried to remove the screen from her third floor dorm room window, and fell out. That is all she will be known for. Perhaps she is a brilliant scientist, blowing all the biochem professors out of the water. Or maybe she spends every weekend volunteering at an animal shelter. It doesn’t matter. To the Wash. U. campus, she will always be known as “that girl who fell out of the window.”
Alcohol, as we were told freshman year, is a mind-altering drug. Copious amounts cause the drinker to lose control of any vestige of common sense, and the next thing he knows he wakes up the next morning naked in bed with someone he barely recognizes. I’ve heard the morning-after confessionals; it’s not pretty. Besides, the best part of a party is talking about all the crazy things that happened the next day. And if you can’t remember what happened, you feel like an idiot when your friends have to explain everything to you.again.
So party, drink, be merry, but don’t drink so much that you end up being “that guy” that all the girls laugh at. Please, don’t be stupid.
Michelle is a junior in Arts & Sciences. She can be reached [email protected].