Makes you wonder: Are "memorable" nights advertised by beer companies/ vodka distributers/nightclub owners really worth it? Here's one "memorable" night that I just endured:
Yesterday was a big orchestra day: 3 concerts in one day, including 2 at the California African American Museum near USC for the kids, and then the annual holiday concert for the LA Lawyers Philharmonic. Joining the LA Lawyers Philharmonic is quickly becoming one of the best decisions of my life; it, along with some other events, made 2011 quite memorable and not totally tarnished by unemployment/ taking the bar exam, etc. It justifies all those years I spent practicing violin and going to violin lessons, etc. because that's all been translated into being able to play freely and enjoy myself in an orchestra that I fit in with and like playing in : lots of different pieces, cool pieces, not too challenging that I have to practice a ton for....
Anyway, had a great concert, then afterwards hit up some law friends in Santa Monica.....now, these friends have a solid reputation for "going out" and "getting around town," so I knew what I was getting into. Start out with some Beirut drinking games, then go to a club in West L.A. 'Twas probably a bad sign that one the way to the club, I was already so inebriated that I had no idea where we were: what the name of the club was, what street we were on, I just got out of the cab and went in. Probably not a good idea. ALSO probably not a good idea to carry around a phone that you know doesn't have power and really has no usefulness. Yea.
The club went well; I remember most things that happened (I don't "black out," as they say) including a pretty intense fight that happened right in front of me...girl threw drink at guy, guy got upset, girl's boyfriend jumped in, things get heated fists were punching, except my reaction, which normally would be to try to separate the combatants or try to inhibit the fight from worsening, was due to my inebriated state, to ENCOURAGE the fight to continue by screaming "yea!" and waving my hands in the air as well as doing some shadow-boxing on the side to non-verbally voice my approval. That's the bar/nightclub process in a nutshell: everything about it encourages you to want some violence, some sort of release, something different from the norm; inhibitions are totally set aside, you act without any regard for consequences and let the brutal inner nature of human beings come out. That's one part of a "memorable" night I certainly don't approve of: physical violence with other human beings and the risk of lawsuit/imprisonment/physical dehabilitation is much too steep a price to pay for a "memorable" night...there are other ways for memories, especially good ones, to be created.
Right after the fight broke out, I went to get some air and suddenly felt VERY VERY dizzy and disoriented... sat down to rest and next thing you know I was passed out outside the bar, without my friends' knowledge and without their ability to contact me via cell phone. The next few hours consisted of me trying to get comfortable on a concrete step by the bar while trying not to puke, getting heckled by fellow clubgoers coming out of the club looking for a cab, shivering in the cold 3AM West Los Angeles weather, falling asleep for brief stretches, and then finally, after sufficiently recovering from the drunken dizziness, wandering about the area mindlessly looking for a cab, finally hitting a McDonald's that was open at 5AM in the morning, buying a Sausage McMuffin and a Powerade, then finding a cab to get home. Very derelict use of the evening and pretty dangerous if I had been in other parts of LA (I'm probably really fortunate I did not have my wallet stolen/robbed at knifepoint or gunpoint, but a memory I will have for the rest of my life, how I spent the night of Dec. 17/morning of Dec. 18th. Was it worth it? Certainly I didn't cause violence or do damage to anybody, other than myself whose side is a little bruised from sleeping on the concrete for awhile, and my friends might have been a little worried about me going off on my own. The main tradeoff is the dizziness/drunkenness that occurred. During that time, it's a very helpless feeling; you can't help but become inebriated, you want to do things but you can't, you are at the mercy of the alcohol coursing through your body and when it wants to stop the relentless attack it afflicts on your body/head. It was a VERY tough 3 hours, those 3 hours I spent on that sidewalk not being able to move for fear of dizziness/throwing up, as well as being insanely cold to the point of wondering if I would get hypothermia or not. Not a life-and-death situation, but one where I put myself in harm's way. But certainly it was different, and that's what beer companies/vodka distributors want you to do: something risky, something way out of the ordinary scope of your life (like try to punch someone and inflict damage or let loose of your inhibitions without fear of consequnces). Given what I had to deal with, though, I'll pass. My greatest memories are when I'm sober, like orchestra concerts or chess/fantasy football victories. I'm just a nerd, I s'ppose. (Avon Barksdale converted quote).
Fantasize on,
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