Party Time - Shiran Raz (important of reading books .txt) 📗

Everywhere I look, there are people rushing around attempting to be ready in time. The thumb goes up giving the final preparation signal. They remind me of ants as they work diligently, quickly, and quietly. The only sounds that can be heard are the shuffling of feet, occasional giggles, faint whispering, and a distant car. The bright colors are vivid against the dull, decaying wood just before the lights go out. I can feel my heart beating faster and faster as the sound of the car becomes louder. It stops right outside, and my heart skips a beat. This is the moment. The car door slams and the pace of the person walking seems careful and slow. She opens the door with a puzzled look since the mysterious darkness is overwhelming but the group lets out a roaring “Surprise!” in perfect unison. This was the beginning of a birthday party for my best friend, Jamie.
A party is a social gathering or celebration filled with good energy and excitement. Once in college, many students believe it is okay to start drinking but they do not realize how it changes and affects their behavior throughout the night. I believe alcohol gives people “liquid courage” meaning they do or say things that they would normally avoid. It makes these students feel invincible and on top of the world; it gives them a sense of bravery that probably should not exist in the situation. Also, people tend to change in big groups as they feel they must try to impress others. Observing a party with my closest friends gave me a chance to see just how much the alcohol affects these people since I know how they usually act outside of the party scene. What I found was interesting observations about my closest friends and how peer pressure and alcohol consume them in certain circumstances.
This party takes place in a log cabin that was rented for the weekend in Pine Mountain, Georgia. The journey of getting to the cabin consists of a 45-minute drive through a long, dark, winding, narrow road. Everyone is getting restless and annoyed at the length of the ride but the feeling of the wind blowing into the car from the windows and the deafening music with all of us singing along helps make it an enjoyable ride. Once reaching the top of the mountain, the view is phenomenal as the trees overlap each other like huge, calm waves in the ocean. We gaze out the car windows staring out into the unknown openness of the mountain and discuss its beauty. We finally reach the cabin and when first entering, it is desolate and cold, but once people begin walking around, decorating, and setting the mood, it transforms into a great party atmosphere. As soon as Jamie arrives, the strong smell of alcohol is dominant for the rest of the evening. The loud beat of blasting hip-hop songs can be heard from down the road. The thunderous sound of a blender drowns out the music every few minutes as someone makes strawberry daiquiris for whoever wants one. Small groups of people are taking shots of different liquors throughout the night cheering and yelling Happy Birthday for Jamie. The noisy sound of cards and cheers comes from the living room where a drinking game known as Waterfall begins. Since drunken people cannot pay attention to one thing for too long, the game quickly comes to a stop as people slowly start losing interest or simply forget about it. The drinking gets more and more intense because people see no problem with mixing different types of alcohol and drinking large amounts of it. I knew this meant some people would end up throwing up or needing to be taken care of; I even tried to tell them they were getting too drunk, but in the end, people will continue doing whatever they want to do without listening to others. I continue by walking through the living room only to discover that the carpet is soaked from spilled alcohol. When these people get drunk, instead of cleaning, they think they can cover it up and it will go unnoticed. In total, three people threw up by the end of the evening; only one made it to the bathroom.
Since I am the only sober one present, I figured I would do them a favor and clean up a bit because in the morning they would all be hung over and not wanting to clean up. As I was cleaning their mess, someone suddenly discovers the hot tub outside. I thought the spilled alcohol got the carpet soaked, but within the hour, the cabin was completely wet as people got in and out of the hot tub constantly. The wet-dog smell began to mix with the alcohol smell causing an interesting concoction. As if the cabin is not already being destroyed enough, one guy comes up with the brilliant idea to rearrange the furniture in order to make a dance floor. Then, a few guys begin to tilt pictures, followed by every other piece of furniture, in order to make it look like it was a wild party. Once this is done, another guy pulls out a strobe light. Strobe lights can be entertaining, but watching a bunch of drunk people fall all over the place due to the light made me extremely nervous.
As I stare concerned about my friend’s safety while the strobe light blinks away, I watch three guys come out of the bathroom. It is a normal occurrence to see girls going to the bathroom together, but guys? I knew something was different about this situation. I continue to watch them and I notice they do not seem as sloppy and loud as everyone else. These three guys kept moving about the room in a quiet, mysterious manner. They kept staring at the light as if they had just seen a ghost. Their eyes were wide open and they kept licking their lips. The only conclusion I could make out of this was that they were doing drugs. I later found out this inference was correct. The party continued to get louder and sloppier. Bigger messes were being made and no one was bothering to clean up except these three guys and me. I notice couples sneaking off into rooms and locking the door, which most likely means there is some sort of intercourse occurring. Finally, around 3:30 a.m., the party begins to wind down as people start passing out on the closest piece of furniture to them.
I crawl into a bed relieved that at last I can rest after a long night of cleaning up and taking care of people when Jamie, the birthday girl, comes to me saying that she cannot believe everyone is going to sleep so early. I consider telling her it is too late and that we should go to sleep as well, but I know that she gets stubborn when she is drunk so I jokingly tell her to bang on pots and pans to wake everyone up. Hearing this idea, a guy friend, James, begins banging on a pot as loud as he can next to each individual’s ear. The piercing noise wakes almost everyone in the cabin up and they are not pleased as can be concluded by the profanity that filled the air. Jamie is happy and begins singing happy birthday to herself and thanking me for helping wake everyone up. The initial annoyed feelings go away and one by one people begin waking up and drinking again. The party continues until about 7:00a.m. In the morning, most of the people can barely remember the events of the previous evening so it is interesting that I can tell them everything that happened. We laugh about the things they did and they complain about headaches.
Heavy drinking causes parties to become wild and sometimes out of control. Many of these people get into the “mood” in the party atmosphere and are encouraged by one another to drink more than they normally would. This mood causes them to gain “liquid courage” which is the bravery simply from the alcohol and means they step outside their normal comfort zone. The events of the party I observed would probably not have happened if the alcohol factor had been removed. While these people are usually outgoing, they are not as bold or brave as they become when they have been drinking. Being able to see the change throughout the night made it clear that alcohol affects an individual in more ways than just impairing their vision. Someone that has been drinking makes quick, unclear decisions without considering any of the consequences. It causes the party to get louder, wilder, and out of hand. A party is an activity where one can lose himself if he is not careful. Some people may see this as fun, and most college students will continue to drink, but it is important to remember that there is a boundary and a line that should not be crossed.

Publication Date: 07-07-2010

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