Walking past my local church in Canberra’s CBD, I notice the distinct sound of rave music. I look at my watch, it’s 8:45pm. I look at the church, I look at my watch again and think WTF, as I am in the midst of carry my groceries home I make a note to check it out tomorrow. The next day I walk in the direction of the church and this time I am greeted by silence.
Most people tend to feel their mood sink a little when they decide to stay sober for a night out, either because they’ve been nominated as the designated driver for the night because it’s their turn, or they’ve just decided to stay sober for some reason. Either way, it can suck when you go out and have to stay sober while all your friends drink up and let loose on the dance floor.
Alcohol seriously brings out the good, the bad and the ugly in most of us – we tend to care so much less about what we say and do, since the concept of being ‘socially appropriate’ just deteriorates as we keep drinking. We’re not in proper functioning order, so who cares, right?
Okay, so most of us have been in that awkward position where we’re out at a nightclub or bar with one of our friends, and then next minute some random guy approaches her and they start talking. At that point, you’re just lingering there, trying not to interfere, but at the same time, you feel exactly like Dupree (from the movie You, Me And Dupree),
I’ve always found it amusing to observe the 18 year old spring chickens who are finally legal to drink publicly (not behind closed doors anymore!) and go all out with their drinking antics, just to make the most of this new exciting age of theirs. I mean, you only get to be 18 for 365 days in your life, before the novelty of being a newbie adult slowly starts to wears off as you get older.
Now here is a question that can fire up a debate between both gender groups: which one generally has the crazier night out? And how crazy can both groups get? It’s a tough question, and I’m about to sort through all the anecdotal stories I’ve heard and experienced in order to logically address this argument.
The nightclub scene in Canberra has been dwindling since the closure of 3 of its most iconic venues – North Bar, Meche Nightclub and ICBM in 2014. The trio of nightclubs were favorites amongst Canberra partiers for their spacious dance floors, all genres playing music and vibrant atmosphere.
Most of us can relate to that feeling of being drunk; that giddy intoxication that starts to lower our inhibitions and self-control as we stumble around either laughing our heads off or sobbing our hearts out (or both!). Most of us can literally feel the fuzziness wrapping our brains in cotton wool as the alcohol seeps into our bloodstream and starts to work its magic, bringing out both the best and worst in us depending on our moods and personalities.
I’m sure that most of us know one or two people who don’t like to drink and/or dance at nightclubs. I mean, yes there are certain times when we all have to restrain ourselves from drinking because either we’re the designated driver for the night or we’re having an early one at work the next morning and don’t want to stumble there with a killer hangover.
Nightclub fights suck. They’re not cool, and you could get into a world of hurt. Sometimes you’ll get off on the wrong foot with a random at the club, and a fight may happen. Back in 2007, I was at a goth/metal club in Melbourne, whose name I won’t mention out of respect (and no one wants to get sued for defamation). The place doesn’t exist anymore anyway, but still.