There is a shot. The mad crowd cheers, looking on at the spectacle before them. Shot…your throat burns. Shot…your face feels as if it is resting in a blazing fire. You stumble feeling the effects of the aftermath. Jaded figures standing before you appear unrecognizable. In the blink of an eye everything is pitch black. The next day you wake up to a sea of trashcans surrounding your bed. You are convinced your head is being held down by a pound of bricks because it is pounding furiously. Soon you notice that your sheets are not as clean as you left them, with blended colors of last night’s dinner painted across them. In that moment you realize your attacker was your best friend Jack Daniels and you are now 21.
You may be reading this thinking, this has never happened to me; consider yourself lucky. For most young adults this is a typical summary of a 21 birthday celebration. There are many ways to celebrate this occasion with variations that all lead to the inevitable s**t show.
- Wake up to being egged on by your friends to take a shot to start your day.
- Stop at the liquor store to make your first “legal purchase,” while making the cashier pose for an awkward picture with you that they secretly hope you delete.
- Grab some food and order a drink which requires another, “Look, I’m holding an alcoholic beverage I’m so cool picture.”
- Attempt to look the best you ever have in an outfit you picked out months before that you thought “looked 21.”
- Pose for an ungodly amount of selfies and pictures with your friends as if every movement must be documented.
- Then the real pregame begins…
- Everybody wants to give you something to drink back to back before you have even left the house.
- Stumble up to the bouncer announcing it’s your birthday because the queen has arrived.
- And if you have a 21 birthday sign with a list of things to accomplish then the night gets really interesting…
- Most of the things on the list you would never imagine doing, but who cares because this is the one night you’re exempt and free to be as weird as you want to. Pretty much Vegas.
- At the end of the night is the moment your friends have been betting on. Will you or will you not spend the rest of the night hugging the toilet. Either way drunken snacks are a must.
- Waking up the next day is a mix between story recaps with friends and lots of pain killers.
