"but how are you supposed to find romance if you don't go to bars?"

[ontology]

At work today I was informed by my co-worker (male, twenty-five) that I need to cut loose more often. Apparently this is because my two-week holiday with my family next month will not involve drinking, partying, and picking up strange men in bars. "Getting drunk isn't my idea of fun at all," I said. "Hangovers are really not my idea of fun." He kind of looked at me and protested, "Don't knock it till you try it!" Uh, thanks, co-worker, but no thank you. (Disclaimer: very much not a teetotaller. If it weren't illegal, what with me being not quite nineteen, I would probably have a glass of -- very fruity and girly -- wine fairly often.) But seriously, I have no desire to lose all of my inhibitions and do things I would be justifiably embarrassed about later, possibly even ashamed of, not to mention putting myself in danger. Also, hangover. No-one enjoys a hangover. Why not just avoid them altogether by being responsible with the drink? Also, strange men in bars? Yuck.

But -- seriously? I am uptight? I need to cut loose? I mean... no one has ever said this to me before. Ever. And when I told my parents they laughed even harder than I had.

In other news, I persuaded a girl to buy a copy of A Countess Below Stairs. Hurrah! Also need to write post for book blog BUT WHAT ABOUT.

Comments

[charismitaine.livejournal.com]

Getting plastered = not as interesting as I was led to believe. It does make for an entertaining story, because apparently when I am drunk I prove that I am not drunk shouting about T.S. Eliot while failing to walk properly, but I can't say that I did anything while intoxicated that I would not have done stone-cold sober. Except perhaps to fall down more often. My inhibitions remained in place, I didn't feel braver, more attractive, or more clever, I just felt like a very dizzy version of myself.

I'm glad that I now know how I behave when drunk, and I'm glad to know that so far none of my alcoholic experiences led to hangovers, but I frankly don't like alcohol enough to pay for more than one social drink.

But some articles I've read on personality types have led me to believe that getting drunk is a very different experience for other people--a very enjoyable experience, as hard as I find it to believe. My co-workers certainly seem to like it, and any time they're joking about drinking or say something off-color they feel the need to apologize to me--apparently I give the impression of being a very Good Girl (I do try, but still--I was in theatre! I have heard it all, and accidentally walked in on it in the green room). And, eh, some people juggle geese.

[faeriemaiden.livejournal.com]

Heh, I imagine me being drunk would be rather similar to me being mostly asleep (usually in church) and devoutly pretending not to be, with the hallucinations of Being Completely Sober and trying to talk sensibly about something Important in order to convince everyone around that I am DEFINITELY OKAY THANKS and discovering later that I was babbling complete nonsense. ...Why do I need to get drunk when I do that all the time anyway? ;p

And while many people seem to enjoy themselves while drunk, do they really enjoy it afterwards? It just seems like such a silly reason to potentially embarrass or endanger oneself. I have been to many music festivals. Noticeably intoxicated people are BLOODY IRRITATING. :p