The downside of being 21
I turned twenty-one just about exactly four months ago, in October; it'll be exactly four months on the tenth. Everyone looks at twenty-one as exciting and great. They say you're in best years of your life. Twenty-one is such a glamorized age, but no one ever talks about the down-side of being twenty-one.
Growing up, my sister and I weren't told that we weren't allowed to have alcohol while we were at home. It was something that was allowed - not as an everyday thing, but on special occasions like holidays, birthdays, or sometimes just dinner at grandma's house.
Because it was never made into a big deal at home, it never felt like a big deal as I was growing up. I had friends who went out drinking and getting drunk before they were twenty-one, but I was never into that. I didn't have to sneak a drink. If I wanted some wine, or a rum-and-coke, or anything, I just had to ask permission first. I still have friends, who are younger than I am, who make a big deal about getting drunk; I just don't see the point. I get that I was raised in, apparently, a different environment than they were, but I still don't see the point. If you want to get drunk, fine whatever, but why does it have to be a big deal? Why does everyone have to know about it?
I turned twenty-one while I was at school, so I celebrated my birthday with my family a few days before my actual birthday, while I was home over break.
At school, on my actual birthday, everyone assumed I wanted to go out drinking and get drunk on my birthday. I honestly had no intention at all of doing that. Again, alcohol isn't a big deal to me because it wasn't forbidden to me while I was growing up. I feel that because it wasn't the "forbidden fruit," it wasn't as "important" that I be able to get my hands on it the very second I could. My birthday was on a Wednesday last year; even if I did want to go out drinking, why would I be so stupid as to do it on a night when I had classes early in the morning the next day?
My friends and I celebrated my birthday by going out to eat at Becky's Place. It's my favorite place to eat on campus. Last semester, a bunch of us would go to Becky's every Monday night; we called it our "family dinner," and that's really what it was. I love my friends here, and we're close to the point that I consider them family. They're my college family, and they're amazing in every way possible.
Now that you have that bit of back story, I suppose I should get into the point of this post -- what I feel is the downside of being 21.
The majority of my friends at here at school are younger than I am, and they know that I'm old enough to buy alcohol. They know I'm (legally) old enough to drink, and now there is more of a pressure to. Here's the thing: I don't want to. I don't look down on people who choose to drink, people who chose to get drunk, but for me... that's just not what I want to do. Aside from red wine, the raspberry Smirnoff Ice, and occasionally a rum-and-coke over the summer while we're out on my grandfather's boat, I'm really not a big fan of alcohol. I don't know why.
I hate the pressure to drink. Not that long ago, I was hanging out with a few friends (who I am not naming on here), and there was alcohol there. Wine. Rum. Vodka. There were about 5 or 6 of us there, and I was the only one who chose not to drink. There was one person there who stood up for me. One. One person who ended up putting his foot down and telling the rest of them to stop, saying "If she doesn't want to drink, don't force her to. She's not going to have a good time if she doesn't want to and you make her anyway." To that person: if you ever end up reading this, thank you. You don't know how much I appreciated that.
Another thing I really don't like, is the feeling that I'm expected to buy alcohol. I never have before, but I almost feel like I'm supposed to. Society basically makes you feel like crap, makes you feel like you're younger than you actually are, if you don't conform to what it thinks twenty-one should be. Sorry my twenty-one isn't what you expect it to be, society.
"Now that you're twenty-one, can you buy me...."
No.
"Since you're twenty-one, can you....."
No.
"Hey you're twenty-one and...."
No.
Twenty-one kinda sucks if you don't do what society says you're supposed to.
I honestly wish more kids were raised in the same environment I was raised in. Or maybe not the same environment, but with the same attitude towards alcohol. If parents didn't make it forbidden, if the rules/laws weren't so strict, I really feel like it wouldn't be as big an issue as it is. Parents, in general, tell kids not to drink. How does that work out? The second the child is out of the parents' house, he or she will likely go out and drink more than they should because they don't know their limit, and for the first time, Mommy and Daddy aren't there to say no.
I'm twenty-one, and I love it. I don't love it because I'm old enough to (legally) drink, but because I have amazing friends and an amazing family. I love it because I'm happy and I'm doing things I want to be doing. And you don't have to be twenty-one to do that. That's just the age I happen to be. My twenty-one isn't what people picture at twenty-one. I don't go out drinking. I don't go to parties or clubs or bars. And I'm ok with that. I wouldn't fit in at a club anyway; it'd just be awkward. If there's one thing I'm really good at, it's being awkward.
Growing up, my sister and I weren't told that we weren't allowed to have alcohol while we were at home. It was something that was allowed - not as an everyday thing, but on special occasions like holidays, birthdays, or sometimes just dinner at grandma's house.
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| Yes that is wine in the glass. |
I turned twenty-one while I was at school, so I celebrated my birthday with my family a few days before my actual birthday, while I was home over break.
At school, on my actual birthday, everyone assumed I wanted to go out drinking and get drunk on my birthday. I honestly had no intention at all of doing that. Again, alcohol isn't a big deal to me because it wasn't forbidden to me while I was growing up. I feel that because it wasn't the "forbidden fruit," it wasn't as "important" that I be able to get my hands on it the very second I could. My birthday was on a Wednesday last year; even if I did want to go out drinking, why would I be so stupid as to do it on a night when I had classes early in the morning the next day?
My friends and I celebrated my birthday by going out to eat at Becky's Place. It's my favorite place to eat on campus. Last semester, a bunch of us would go to Becky's every Monday night; we called it our "family dinner," and that's really what it was. I love my friends here, and we're close to the point that I consider them family. They're my college family, and they're amazing in every way possible.
 |
| On my 21st birthday! |
The majority of my friends at here at school are younger than I am, and they know that I'm old enough to buy alcohol. They know I'm (legally) old enough to drink, and now there is more of a pressure to. Here's the thing: I don't want to. I don't look down on people who choose to drink, people who chose to get drunk, but for me... that's just not what I want to do. Aside from red wine, the raspberry Smirnoff Ice, and occasionally a rum-and-coke over the summer while we're out on my grandfather's boat, I'm really not a big fan of alcohol. I don't know why.
I hate the pressure to drink. Not that long ago, I was hanging out with a few friends (who I am not naming on here), and there was alcohol there. Wine. Rum. Vodka. There were about 5 or 6 of us there, and I was the only one who chose not to drink. There was one person there who stood up for me. One. One person who ended up putting his foot down and telling the rest of them to stop, saying "If she doesn't want to drink, don't force her to. She's not going to have a good time if she doesn't want to and you make her anyway." To that person: if you ever end up reading this, thank you. You don't know how much I appreciated that.
Another thing I really don't like, is the feeling that I'm expected to buy alcohol. I never have before, but I almost feel like I'm supposed to. Society basically makes you feel like crap, makes you feel like you're younger than you actually are, if you don't conform to what it thinks twenty-one should be. Sorry my twenty-one isn't what you expect it to be, society.
"Now that you're twenty-one, can you buy me...."
No.
"Since you're twenty-one, can you....."
No.
"Hey you're twenty-one and...."
No.
Twenty-one kinda sucks if you don't do what society says you're supposed to.
I honestly wish more kids were raised in the same environment I was raised in. Or maybe not the same environment, but with the same attitude towards alcohol. If parents didn't make it forbidden, if the rules/laws weren't so strict, I really feel like it wouldn't be as big an issue as it is. Parents, in general, tell kids not to drink. How does that work out? The second the child is out of the parents' house, he or she will likely go out and drink more than they should because they don't know their limit, and for the first time, Mommy and Daddy aren't there to say no.
I'm twenty-one, and I love it. I don't love it because I'm old enough to (legally) drink, but because I have amazing friends and an amazing family. I love it because I'm happy and I'm doing things I want to be doing. And you don't have to be twenty-one to do that. That's just the age I happen to be. My twenty-one isn't what people picture at twenty-one. I don't go out drinking. I don't go to parties or clubs or bars. And I'm ok with that. I wouldn't fit in at a club anyway; it'd just be awkward. If there's one thing I'm really good at, it's being awkward.
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