You see, a few days ago now was the annual Davis tradition of Picnic Day. For years, the only thing I really knew of it was the cute little parade that marches through downtown. As a kid, this was the most bitchin' thing about Davis, because when the floats would trot on by, we would spray the ones we liked with silly string. As we got older, some of my friends would spray the floats with water guns. Eventually they outlawed silly string, not because of the people in the floats complaining, but because planners found that cleaning up the string was way too much of a hassle...
Anyway, once we got even older, we realized that the real reason so many people converged on Davis that day was because of all the crazy parties that would go on at the frat houses and bars. As a teenager, this was a mild curiosity, looking on at possible analogs of myself as the flopped along from bar to bar, hitting on any piece of ass they saw along the way. In my mind I was thinking, will I really be that way when I am of that age?
Well, I guess not, and thankfully so. I can count the number of alcoholic drinks I've had on one hand, and quite frankly I don't really plan on making that number grow exponentially, even though I turned 21 this past January.
To be even more frank, the novelty of even watching people drink and flop around wears thin after 3 years of college. As me and my girlfriend were riding our bikes to the parade at around 10 in the morning of this past Picnic Day, we must have passed by at least 3 houses where people were already playing beer pong. Is the only this day exists is for people to have an excuse to drink? Maybe it's because I haven't really let loose in my life, some friends of mine would probably say, but I don't really feel the need to let loose in that way. I want to be in control of my actions. I am afraid of what I would do if I were drunk.
I don't know if I will come off as an asshole or something, but one other thing about the drinking part of Picnic Day that annoys the hell out of me is how it brings all of these totally douche-bag-ish people to Davis who I know, I know! don't even go to UCD. There was this group of absolutely sketch-ass mother fuckers who set up camp in the middle of Central Park as me and my girlfriend were leaving downtown. Maybe they were just having a good time, but from what I heard from the cops later on was that quite a few groups, probably them included, go kind of rowdy and tazers were deployed on some people. While as an advocate for civil rights and everything, sometimes some people have it coming.
What this rant is really trying to get at is that even though I such easy access to alcohol, that even though quite a few of my friends are total drunkards and would totally love it if I "loosened up" and knocked back a few, I don't feel the need to at all. It's weird, really. Something inside of me is saying that "what would be the harm?" While the other, much bigger side of me, is saying "don't betray your beliefs." I'm not talking about religious beliefs, I'm just talking about the belief I have that I don't need alcohol to be a "cool" person.
I am so glad that me and my girlfriend still had fun at Picnic Day without drinking, or even getting near a single drop of alcohol. Granted, the drunks walking around that day were worth a chuckle or two. But I just hope that at least some of them can see that life doesn't have to be enjoyed in a haze where you don't really remember what you did last night.
I am no crazy religious conservative asking for temperance, I'm just a person who doesn't feel the need to drink alcohol.
This picture pretty much sums of Picnic Day; drunkards everywhere...
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