For many college students, most of their free time on the weekends is dedicated to partying. Working hard during the week merits playing harder on the weekends, right? Undoubtedly this involves heavy drinking, loud music, bars and house parties. There is nothing wrong with drinking, and most people who choose to do so in a college environment are doing so responsibly. But there are some who do not. We have all seen our friends mess up and do something they may not have otherwise done sober. There is a large population of ladies out there who say no to booze and make the choice not to drink. Whatever the reason, these ladies deserve some recognition for their bravery and sticking to their morals in an environment where it is the norm to binge drink and go crazy. These are the girls who can have a damn good time sober. I raise my solo cup full of Cherry Coke (sans alcohol) to all of you.
This goes out to the responsible friends, the ones who make good choices and are reliable. For the girls who don’t need to throw a shot back to get the guts to try new things. For all the nights you held your girlfriend’s hair back while she prayed to the porcelain god, for all the nights you were the only one sober and had to pick up your stranded friends downtown and drive them home, for all the times you remember clearly what others don’t, for all the secrets you pretended not to hear your drunk friend confessing, for all the nights you stayed you. Here is some long awaited recognition for the Sober Sallys, and ten reasons why you’re all killing it.
1. No Hangovers! Saturday morning while all of your friends are whining about their pounding head or the room spinning around, you’re feeling great and are off to the gym or the library to have a productive day. All your friends are envious.
2. No empty calories. It’s no secret that alcohol is packed with unnecessary sugar and carbohydrates. Add soda to hard liquor for a few drinks and you basically just ate a big mac with fries calorie-wise. But you never have to worry about that. Unless you’re hungry, because parties never have snacks anymore. Huge bummer.
3. No sloppy Facebook pictures. Sure, your hair may get a little messed up at a house party, but you never have to worry about looking like a not-so-hot mess in pictures because you’re too drunk to stand. That means while your friends are vigorously untagging pictures from the weekend before people can see how drunk and out of it they look, you’re admiring how nice your new lipstick looks in all of the pics.
4. No black-outs. For those of us who have friends who consistently drink to the point of incoherence, the notion that your brain can delete a whole nights worth of activity is troubling. Lucky for you, you never have to worry about embarrassing things you said or did, because you are conscious and alert. No detective work for you! You know exactly what you did last night, and you have no regrets.
5. You can always put your best face forward. During a night on the town you can rest assured that you’ll be your 100% genuine and beautiful self when you meet someone new. So you don’t have to worry about missing an opportunity to chill with Tom Hanks, like this guy did.
6. No fighting for a cab. You can drive yourself home whenever you feel like leaving!
7. You get to hear everyone’s secrets. All your drunk friends will confess things to you as they drink more throughout the night that they probably haven’t told many people. Only difference is you’ll remember what they said, and they won’t. What you do with that knowledge is up to you. But with knowledge comes power, and with great power comes great responsibility, Sober Sally.
8. You save money! You don’t have to worry about dropping that hard earned cash on overpriced cocktails or a run to the liquor store. In result you have an insane shoe collection.
9. No legal troubles. No worries about a party being busted, or getting stopped by the cops for carrying alcohol.
10. You look like a badass. Though that may not be your first thought, the fact that you are staying true to yourself in the college culture is a pretty big deal. When everyone else around you is choosing to drink, you’re keeping your cool and doing you, alcohol is just not a factor. And the fact you stand behind your choices and values is pretty badass.