A guide to how to celebrate your friend's birthday in an appropriate manner.An easy way to not annoy anyone while celebrating responsibly. 

Twenty-first birthdays are always guaranteed to be a great time. For some of us, our friends are finally joining us on the “old” side of the social scene. For others, it is a painful reminder of how close they are to the golden age. What, ultimately, ruins these celebrations are those large poster board signs that girls make for each other. I think I speak for almost every guy when I say this: you look stupid.

First things first. You have a piece of paper tied around your neck. Whoever decided that this was a cool idea needs a swift punch to the face. As soon as you walk into any establishment sporting one of those signs, you and all of your loud friends draw all the attention. This is incredibly annoying to everyone around you. We all know that we are going to be bombarded by various intoxicated and loud, women trying to get us to sign or cross-off one of the tasks listed on the checklist. 

No one cares that it’s your birthday. No one wants to have their vibes murdered by a gaggle of loud people. Call me old fashioned, but a twenty-first birthday should only call for a steady stream of free drinks for the birthday boy or girl, enjoyed with a group of close friends.

No one ever finishes the checklist. Half of it is ridiculous things that no one in their right mind would do, sober or intoxicated. None of the of the ideas are original. If you are a girl who is reading this, I can guarantee that the following were on your sign: dance on the bar, take a body shot, get 21 kisses, and #21 is blackout – probably underlined, in caps, with at least four to seven exclamation points. Do something original. We have all been bothered enough times by enough of you to last for the rest of the University’s existence.

Here are some solutions. Make a shot book. I don’t have to see it, so I’m going to be happy. You can fill it with different meaningful situations, inside jokes, and embarrassing pictures of your friend that would be a better alternative. 

Another option is to do a bar crawl, starting from the places you went to freshman year to the places that you go to now. 

You could also not do anything, whatsoever. Just take them out, get them free drinks and treat them to their favorite late night eatery. It's simple, classic and they are most likely not going to remember much of their night, anyway.