Why 'Blackout' Does Not Mean 'Fun'

At some point or another, we’ve all been there. Laying in bed after a night out, wondering why we thought that extra shot of tequila was a good idea…playing the oh so fun game of “How Fast Can You Reach A Toilet!” For some, this experience is a rite of passage in order to achieve the “true” college experience. For others, it is simply a myth they have yet to discover.

For me, it was my reality almost a year ago the day after Fox Day and on several special occasions since then. The hangover is constantly classified as the worst part of drinking, and that is true for certain affairs involving alcoholic beverages. But that is not the worst thing overall when consuming copious amounts of liquor. The worst thing is the blackout.

Personally I am with Amy on this one. Nothing good has ever come from a blackout. The last time I “blacked out” I did several questionable things that I will not disclose at this time. All you need to know is I am fine, my friends are the best and my drunk texting skills are on point. That being said I have a problem with several reactions to when I told my friends I blacked out. One would think I would get concerned looks and maybe a lecture. No, the first reaction I got was, “Looks like you had fun.” This is a problem to me.

I am not here to trash on drinking habits or proclaim from the street that drinking is a sin and we should all stop. I am here to announce that we really need to change the way we view a “good time.” It is so incredibly dysfunctional to me that our first reaction to someone saying they can’t remember what happened is, “Oh so you had a good time?” No, I’m saying I can’t remember. There is a very large difference between the two. I could have gotten a tattoo on my left butt-cheek. I could have gotten kidnapped. I could have hurt someone I love. I don’t know what I did, so I cannot say anything.

My blackout stories are nothing like “The Hangover” where I participated in seven orgies and stole a tiger. My blackout stories involve me getting my ass continuously grabbed as I’m to remain standing while my best friend is getting me water. That is not a good time. That is terrifying. Talking to a counselor here at Rollins College, she said all of her sexual assault cases have involved alcohol. As a girl who has been there, I do not find this fun or entertaining and if you really were my friend, you wouldn’t either. You would be scared out of your mind that I couldn’t hold my head up and that guys were trying to get me away from my best friend.

I have heard other stories from other women and men that parallel my own. One friend screamed at her best friend, calling her the “c-word” and slamming the door in her face. Another, bit a boy on the arm and he was trying to prevent her from hurting her sorority sister. This is not “fun” or “cute” or even remotely “acceptable.” And we need to stop calling it as such. The first words out of our mouths cannot be, “Oh so you had fun, right?” when we hear our friend’s blacked out. Our first words need to be, “Are you alright?” Only after hearing a positive response can we start making the jokes and labeling the night as “fun.”