I was eating dinner last week when someone said, "You were crazy last night — sooo wasted." On the Street I occasionally hear, "How drunk are you?" There's also the, "Yo, my friend said you were totally blacked out last night." I usually laugh — another good night out.
The average good night out consists of pre-gaming with friends, rolling to the Street, small talk, switching clubs, some picture taking, dancing, occasional big talk, chilling, grabbing a late-night snack from Terrace and a slice of pizza from Frist right before it closes at 3 a.m. and passing out in my room after a solid five hours out.
I exhibit all the typical signs of a good night out. I "waste" time actively, I don't remember everything that happens, I have a hard time waking up the next morning, I see people I've been waiting to see all week, I enjoy music and I don't think about schoolwork at all. I'm never actually "wasted," though. In fact, I don't drink alcohol.
In my early teens, on occasion, I would have a glass of wine, a bottle of beer or a "girly" drink. My palate, however, didn't evolve with my peers' as they branched out to 40s, vodka and rum. I also didn't enjoy participating in my friends' midnight quests for alcohol, especially the failed attempts when their fakes got taken. I never bothered getting one. It was fun being with my friends, but getting alcohol started to become the focus of our night instead of hanging out.
Since the middle of high school, I haven't had more than a few sips of alcohol in a night. So now I'm in college, where, according to AlcoholEdu, 80 percent of my peers drink alcohol. To be honest, I'm surprised by how many people don't drink.
The question most people have is: Why am I on a dry spell?
It's not for the legal issues, if that matters. I don't like the taste of most alcohol. I used to in high school, but in retrospect, I wonder if I just wanted to like the taste so I could fulfill my 14-year-old-goal of acting 25. Beast is especially gross — I doubt anyone enjoys it. Drinking isn't healthy. I find the paradigm shifts in college: drinking comes not from the decision to drink, but from the massive change in quantity. Hence the Freshman 15.
Drinking's upside seems limited. As far as I can tell, alcohol's biggest virtue is that it functions as a social lubricant, smoothing interpersonal interactions by offering a bit of euphoria. But however open, intense or crazy people get to with alcohol, I can — within reason — do the same, sober.
It's possible my good nights out might not exist if not for alcohol ... in others. That is not to say people "need" alcohol. Princetonians, especially, are inherently exciting, interesting and fun — I am living proof that anyone can be "crazy" without being "wasted." Most people just haven't thought about not drinking at the Street ... maybe you should try it?
I'm not trying to encourage people to stop drinking. In fact, I promised a friend I'd drink a beer on my 21st birthday. In writing this I just hope to offer a different perspective. Some of my friends have tried a dry night out — for instance, athletes are sometimes obligated to do so. Unaccustomed to the perceived awkwardness, some have hastily gone back to the Beast. But after the second or third time, many enjoy the fresh vision that taking off beer goggles gives you and proudly exclaim, "I'm not going to drink as much – this sober thing isn't so bad." As the token soberite, I am often confided in, another major perk.
When people tell me they "respect me" for not drinking, I thank them and accept their respect. For me, though, I don't even think about alcohol. Grabbing a drink doesn't really cross my mind, and I don't think about others' drinking. Not drinking for me is as natural as drinking is for many others. Some people wonder if I look down on people who get drunk — definitely not.
Personally, I feel completely comfortable at the Street. There will always be a potential for awkwardness, sober or not. I accept the culture of the Street, have gotten used to it and now enjoy it wholeheartedly. Josh Weinstein is an East Asian Studies major from New York, N.Y. He can be reached at joshw@princeton.edu.
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