Yeah, I was a college student. I was at LSU, too, which has a reputation for being a big party school. And it must’ve been, because even though I’m a big honkin’ geek, I spent a fair amount of time at the Bayou (RIP), the Varsity, and the Chimes. I lived in Tigerland and knew exactly how popular Sport’s (sic) Illustrated and The Tiger were (especially at 2:30 am when drunken fratboys would be yelling at each other under my window, “Dude! I tried to call you!”).
But here’s the deal. In the college town in which I currently reside, a huge deal is made out of “party holidays” - Cinco de Mayo, Mardi Gras, and, of course, St. Patrick’s day.
Here it’s usually “unofficial St. Patrick’s day” since it often falls during Spring Break. And bars open at 10am. My wife will often have students wander into class on that day who are clearly drunk. She’s had students seriously suggest that class be cancelled on that day because “it’s a holiday”.
Now like I said, I know college students like ‘em some drinkin’, but really do they need excuses? If they’re gullible enough to fall for “come drink early and often in celebration of some holiday you’re only barely aware of!” why not just announce “National Pass Out in the Street Day” and bring them in for that?
I guess what I’m trying to say is, why go through all this trouble to make the drinking occasion somehow “special” or “meaningful”? Getting college kids to drink is like getting anime women to show their panties - they do it anyway, for no reason whatsoever. So why work at it? What am I missing here?
