For more than a century now, college students from all walks of life have entered the Jayhawk Cafe, better known as “The Hawk”, leaving drunk, happy, angry, asleep, or in handcuffs. It’s a tradition of some sorts, even local high schoolers get in on the drinking fun. The darkness, the overwhelming bass, the overpriced drinks, the bacteria-ridden floors; what draws us to The Hawk every weekend anyway? Certainly none of the things listed above. So, what is it?
Let’s break it down: The Hawk offers many amenities to its weekly customers, such as inadequate bathrooms that lack toilet paper, a room known as “The Boom Boom Room” for horny couples to grope each other in, and a gorgeous sidewalk that anxious customers can wait in line on for hours on end in all types of weather before they are granted access into the promised land. All pretty tempting, wouldn’t you say?
So, now that we have established that The Hawk is a literal trash can that serves alcohol to minors, let’s try and understand why we, as college students, spend our hard-earned money at this “establishment”…peer pressure. Peer pressure and because everyone else is doing it is why you spend all your hard earned money at The Hawk.
Thank you so much for coming to my Ted talk, and next time you’re about drop 40 bucks on shitty alcohol at a nasty bar, just remember, you’re only doing it because everyone else around you is doing it too. Keep Calm and Sheep On.
XOXO,
A Reality Check.