Entering the prime age of 21 is ultimately the most relevant birthday a person will have during their lifetime. Yes, the freedom of turning 16 and being able to drive is up there, but you're still a child and you still have restrictions and curfews. Turning 18 makes you feel pretty mature, but unless you're a tobacco junkee/strip club fanatic, it is most likely not going to be life changing. However, turning 21 is a whole new world, where magical dreams and fantasies really do come true, and then every birthday after that is irrelevant and just makes you feel depressed.
The week before: While you have been managing to sneak into the bars or have been doing so with a fake, the second you are a week away from your 21st, you are as far away as possible from those establishments. Who wants to risk getting in trouble a week before they are legal?
The day before: Obviously, you will be turning 21 at midnight so how can you not go out the night before? My goal for you is to try not to get more wasted on this night than the night of your birthday. May the odds be in your favor.
The day of: If you listened to my above advice, then you are feeling golden and ambitious. This day may consist of day drinking, and trust me, the best feeling will come when you order an alcoholic beverage at a restaurant in real daylight. No, I'm not talking about the Mexican restaurant that always takes your fake. I'm talking about the place you've always gone to eat and have only dreamt of ordering something real to quench your adult thirst.
The day after: Some may take this day off, but true warriors will fight on. Depending on when your birthday lands in the week, this day may or may not be crucial. So, if you can physically get yourself out of bed, go have some fun.
Days (and weeks) following: These are the days when reality actually starts to sink in. With it being your birthday week and maybe having continued celebrations, these are the days when you find yourself casually ordering drinks with meals and not even noticing it. Suddenly, you don't feel an urge to viciously pre-game the bars, you just simply go out. This is the time where you start planning trips and making plans, realizing that the stress of how you will get buzzed has simply vanished. No more water bottles filled with booze, no more hidden flasks tucked in waistlines, no more forcing horrible booze down just to get respectably wasted before going places. No more.
This is now a time of cocktails on a patio with no fear, ever-flowing beer at sporting events, having a beer with your meal and actually being able to drive home, casually buying decent drinks just to have in the fridge, etc. This is your time to shine. So, grab that craft beer that you're trying to drink and look like a sophisticated adult (even though you just want a Blue Moon), and cheers to the world. You have made it. you have made it.
