Another drinking post...

I'll start this post out with a "scene from work"

Coworker: I think I need to drink more.

MadAnthony: You know, I've thought that myself. I drank a lot my last two years of college, and I really had fun

Coworker: I think people like me better when I'm drunk

MadAnthony: I think I like other people better when I'm drunk.

But after some thinking, I'm not so sure that drinking more is going to make me happier or better off. I drank quite a bit the last two years of college, but of late I almost never drink. There are a couple reasons for this: I decided to try to lose some weight and figured that drinking was just empty calories (plus gave me a desire to eat an entire bag of nuts), I found myself so busy with work and MBA classes and eBay and blogging that I didn't really have time to drink, and I found it vaguely creepy to sit alone in my apartment and get drunk alone.

But I think that's why I liked college. Sure, being drunk made me more talkative, made me have opinions on subjects I usually didn't care about, made me talk and feel comfortable with people I would usually just avoid. But part of what made college enjoyable was that there were always people around - roomates, people who lived down the hall, people in other classes. I was constantly surrounded by people my own age, some of who I got along with. In the real world, it's not so easy - I don't come into contact with as many people. There isn't always someone around to hang out with or do shots with, and that's not as fun.

I also think there is a bit of idealization here - people, myself included, tend to remember stuff selectivly. Sure, I remember fun times while I was drunk, but I forget the less-fun parts - waking up at 2 in the afternoon with a pounding headache and a bad case of the shits, trying to figure out what the hell was going on in an 8AM econ class when keeping my head from hitting the desk was difficult, being broke because I spent all my money on Schaffer and Rikaloff.

So I don't think hitting the sauce will make me any better off, and would probably make me worse off. What I need to do is find hobbies, find people I get along with, find things to do that I enjoy. Or I can just continue focusing on work and school and try not to have any free time to have to fill. Of course, at some point I'll actually get my MBA and I won't have school, and chances are my overtime will end pretty soon and I'll have Saturdays free. And then I'll be older and still running in place.