It's my birthday! Let's get wasted!
The fact that I just typed those words makes me laugh. Although I turned 20 yesterday, that statement is far from anything I would ever say.
That's right. I don't drink. Actually, I'm straight edge.
Straight edge, for those of you who don't know, is a lifestyle movement that started in the 1980s. Its followers make a commitment to abstain from using drugs, alcohol and tobacco products.
My high school was known locally as a drinking school, but I removed myself from that crowd. I grew up in a small town's hardcore music scene where being straight edge was common and accepted, and I avoided the topics of alcohol and my non-consumption easily.
After arriving at UB in August 2007, I quickly realized that wasn't going to be the case any longer.
Since the beginning of my freshman year, anytime that drinking is mentioned I've gotten a little uncomfortable. This is for the sole fact that I know as soon as I utter the words 'I don't drink,' I'll be met with disapproving looks and bombarded with questions.
I can't count the number of times people looked at me with puzzled faces and asked, 'Why not? What do you do for fun?' Even my younger brother pesters me about it.
Personally, there is not a more natural thing for me to do.
The majority of college students can't imagine a weekend without alcohol. What else is there to do, right?
Wrong.
It amazes me how virtually every activity is centered around alcohol. The majority of the time, drinking is the activity and the rest of life centered around it. When did swallowing a liquid become a pastime?
Yes, drinking in college allows people to fit in and makes finding friends easier, but if you sit back and look at it, are those people really your friends?
I'm done with fake friendships and when I see people that I know are only friends because they get wasted together on the weekends, I honestly feel bad for them.
I want real friendships – meaningful friendships – and to spend a Saturday night in Buffalo without someone mentioning getting plastered.
I'm sick of walking around this campus and hearing kids talk about how their Adderall supplier moved away, how their friend passed out by the toilet this weekend or that last weekend was the first time their roommate tried cocaine. I feel like that is not too much to ask.
More than one of my previous friends have mentioned how much they respect me for being straight edge and how they wish they could be like me. Then a week later, every Facebook status they post is about 'getting drunk like bible times' and smoking out of boredom.
Is fitting in really worth it? I'd rather keep my self-respect intact.
The hardest part about being straight edge is being in the minority. I not only get crap from people who are too ignorant to understand my choices, but I also hear everyday that 'girls can't be straight edge' from straight edge guys.
Feeling like you have no support from even the people that are in the same situation as you is terrible. Yes, there is a shortage of edge girls in this world, but that doesn't mean we don't exist and don't deserve your respect.
So the next time you talk to someone who says they don't drink, have respect for the choices they've made, and remember, in the words of Minor Threat, they're a person just like you, but they've got better things to do.
E-mail: katie.carlett@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
