So I was told that I’m “not social” because I don’t go out and get so drunk on the weekends that I can’t figure out which way is up.
You know what? FUCK YOU.
I feel your pain. I am relegated to designated driverhood by the fact that alcohol makes me break out in a rash. Everywhere. Even down there.
But everyone just wants to drink on the weekends.
Can’t we go bowling? See a movie?
Sheesh.
I go to parties from time to time. I know that it’s time for me to leave when people just start to get incoherent. Drunks are lame. They’re loud and act like fucking morons. Keep the faith.
Haj
Maybe you are hanging out with the wrong drunks? Find people who share your values, they are out there.
You can guess where my loyalties are… Rhum Runner 
Man, if I had those five years of college back again, the last thing I’d be doing is drinking so much I couldn’t tell the difference between the steering wheel and the porcelin wheel.
I figured out later that I blew several thousand dollars (in 1980 dollars) on all kinds of shit. I wish I had that back again, along with a few billion brain cells. It was never as fun as you would think.
As a college freshman at WVU (“just a playground for drunks”), I’m still getting used to the freedom of being able to party whenever the hell I want to. The party scene here is crazy and yeah, it’s fun to do it in moderation. But if you don’t like to party, that’s cool too. Even here in Morgantown, I’ve made friends with some really cool people who just don’t like to get drunk. You might have to make an effort to look, but there are people out there who feel the same way you do.
And if some (ignorant) people think you’re “not social” for simply being true to your values and feelings, fuck em.
That’s all I have to say.
For a while people pestered me (the college student) to go out and get drunk with them. I just started speculating (loudly) ways to get money off drunk people. It’s worked like a charm
I am twenty-four years old, and I have never been drunk in my life. And I don’t plan on it.
I went through college STUDYING. And I miss that. You want to talk about nerds? That’s me!
Screw 'em. It sounds like you wouldn’t enjoy being around them, anyways.
CD, did you miss the part in “unwritten things about UVA” where it’s a huge fucking party school?
And to a college student, “party school”=“Beer with a capital DRUNK”. To the ones I’ve met, anyway. Maybe there’s a different breed somewhere.
Blah, I’m in a big party school. I don’t drink and I’m shy. Most of the people I know either hang out with people who drink too much or want me to drink or go to places were all they do is drink (even if it’s not to the point of drunkeness, in the last two cases).
I don’t go out. I’ve yet to go to a club.
Nah, I knew that coming into UVA it was a big party school. I even managed to get a little…uh… non-sober last night at the QSU party… but large-scale frat parties where the goal is to see how fast you can stop feeling feelings? Nah, not my thing.
Hence why I’m online on a Friday night I guess 
I feel your pain, and not just in the Clintonian sense.
I’m at GWU, and my pals…er…hallmates are just about to get drunk, as they do every weekend.
Call me a goody-two-shoes, but the only times I imbibe alcohol are during Communion/Eucharist/Mass.
Unfortunately, unlike Guinastasia, I’m not studying right now. Instead, I’m just sitting here typing a reply to y’all! Man, I’ve got Econ stuff to read…a Cuban Missile Crisis paper to write…and a museum to go to (a more enjoyable homework assignment!)
Keep up the good work, Civil Defense. I’ve never heard anyone say that they wish they were drunk more often in the college years.
I hate alcohol. The smell, the taste, the drunken idiots, etc. Quite frankly, I’d rather see a lousy movie with “not social” sober people than hang out with the popular drunks.
I’m not a drinker, or smoker, and given where I go to school that makes me an oddity. I like parties where I can find a couple of people to have a good conversation with, usually one at a time, and on those infrequent occasions where I have real free time (as opposed to straight dope breaks) I’d rather game than get drunk.
My problem with alcohol is the taste. It just doesn’t have a good enough flavor to bother with. That and the cost. I waste enough money on Coke and books as it is. If I were to start drinking I’d be dipping into rent money.
One final thought I’ve always thought it is funny that people who like getting drunk call people who don’t non-social. What kind of meaningful social interaction can you have while smashed to hell? Note that vomiting on someone else isn’t a meaningful social interaction.
HEy CD… for a part of college I also looked down on the people that let themselves drink too much at parties (for a different part, and lower GPA part of college, I joined them
anyhow, I learned how to hang out with partiers and have fun… show up fashionably late, most people will be crocked and you can have fun at their expense… if someone offers you a drink, just explain that you prefer to make your own, so it tastes right and has the right ratios… then mix your favorite cranberry juice and vodka mix, which you can make look like a real drink, while having roughly 0% vodka… problem solved… you can have fun with the silly people, and when it gets a little “active” for you, just say “I think I’m done for the night… time to stagger home” and off you go. (or you can pretend to feel not good, “sorry, I’m a light-weight” and split)
either way, there are certain times that parties can be fun, especially if you’re the most coherent in the room… and then those time can be fleeting, so you need an out… pretending to drink can let you have the best of both worlds and remember those times the next morning
it taught me how to deal with corporate parties… a club soda with a lime wedge looks like a gin and tonic, then you splash a little gin on your lips and you smell like it too, but you never make an ass of yourself, or get branded a prude…
take this advice for what it’s worth, absolutely nothing… as I’m safe and home, I’m going to grab a beer
Trust me, there are plenty of folks to hang out with who don’t get slobbering drunk every time they go out. You’re not likely to find them by sitting in your room typing at us, though. Join some clubs, work for the campus paper, bowl on a league. You’ll run across other folks who want to go do stuff sober at least part of the time.
Man, I dunno who said what to you, but if the purpose of said weekend was truly to get drunk, I agree with you.
OTOH, until a while into University, I’d never had the chance to socialize in a bar-type situation. Your peers are all well and good, but even if you don’t realize it, talking about the latest hard drive specs and the bandwidth efficiency of one file sharing program versus another isn’t a full experience.
That said, I hope never to experience a hangover, and can fully recall each and every alcohol including evening I’ve had. (Although I fully enjoy hearing those stories that usually have “so I’m wondering where the hell I am, when…” in them, so everybody else can keep on doing what they’re doing.
I’m pretty sure that the point of all the frat parties I know of is to see how fast you can start feeling girls. Alcohol is just a means to that end.
As others have stated, its perfectly possible to go through college and drink or drink moderately with social sucess. I am a lightweight and refuse to drink “in public” (ie bars, large parties, etc) or anywhere where the situation might not be controlled while I am not at my best. I enjoy being slightly buzzed, when I know I’m safe. This limits my drinking to an occassional night with close friends.
This never limited me from hanging out at clubs or parties and meeting people and having fun in a wildly social setting. Anyone who thought otherwise would quickly get involved with my friends who were supportive of my decision. (And trust me, after seeing me on EtOH once, most of my friends are. I’m not a wild drunk, I’m actually quieter. But I’m wierd. And overly sensitive to sound, light, motion… Loud clubs and me drinking will never mix.)
So get some buddies who have some brain cells and the ability to distinguish drinking from social activity. Ignore the others.
FWIW, if people are just going out to the bar for a drink or two, it isn’t always a bad idea to join them: if you order non-alcoholic drinks, many places will assume you’re the designated driver and give them to you free. Even if everybody walked there. Sure, people might get rowdy or unpleasant, but that’s not the point.
Free Shirley Temples is the point