What to do for the 21st?

Start with 21 shots of an alcoholic beverage of your choice.(I’d go with tequila). The rest of the evening will fall into place by itself.

Go to the bar with friends….and have a drink or two?

I really don’t get why this is such a big deal.

@jjmah neither do I, it just is.

Vegas

Okay, well some girls in my sorority did this for their birthdays, and they loved it. I’m not drinking age yet, though, so I couldn’t participate. :]

Go to as many different bars as you wish (my one friend actually did 21 different places, others stuck to 5–10) and have a different person buy you a drink (mostly shots) of their choice at each place, until you take all 21 shots. It’s entertaining and fun, especially when you have no idea what the drinks are. :] Also, it’s easier for them to pick out a birthday gift, because they just gotta buy drinks instead of finding something on their own. xD

It’s kind of like replacing birthday candles with drinks. Which makes sense at 21. ;)

Happy (early) Birthday! And I hope you enjoy it. :] And let me know what you end up doing. :P

(Oh and P.S., my one friend did half of this at midnight when she turned 21, then the other half on her birthday night. Just in case you’re a lightweight, that’s always an option. :])

@CherrySempai thanks!

Invite your friends to meet you at the nearest casino, drinks on the house.

Go to the Men’s strip bar… wait are you man.. Go to the woman’s strip bar. LOL Happy Birthday By the way.I remember mine. I bought a bottle of Sambooka( however you spell it) and went tthe hotel. and drank in the hotel bar. and went in the jucuzzi. It was fun.

It’s kind of like replacing birthday candles with drinks. Which makes sense at 21.
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Unless, of course, you end up in the ER with alcohol poissoning. Yes, it has happened plenty enough times in REAL LIFE that it should give a sensible person pause.

And by all means, feel free to ignore the implied insult in being considered a “lightweight” if you spread it out over two days.

Is being a heavyweight drinker really something to be all that proud of ? Ask a few ER Doctors their opinion about that if you want a more balanced perspective on things.

One does not have to be shit-faced drunk out of their minds (which is what 21 drinks will do to an inexperienced drinker) in order to “properly” celebrate.

There are plenty of more creative and enjoyable ways to celebrate which involve being able to remember the good time rather than being rendered unconscious.

And whatever else you do, if it involves drinking in ANY amount, please have a designated driver who is not drinking at all or take a cab.

There are other people driving those roads with spouses and children who would very much appreciate their loved ones coming home to them rather than being maimed or killed by a drunk driver.

I’m sure that mine won’t be the most popular answer to this Q but at least it’s truthful and accurate. You don’t need to take my word for it.

Do your own research. People have died as a result of this supposedly “sensible” substitution of 21 MIXED alcoholic drinks.

Just because you CAN doesn’t automatically mean you SHOULD.

Feel free to be your own individual self instead of following the pack mentality. After all, that’s one of the signs of being an adult. The freedom to chart your own course. Don’t hesitate to do what you truly want to do and ignore those who would consider you a lightweight because of it.

Being a heavyweight (as far as drinking is concerned) is WAY over-rated. It’s really not all it’s cracked up to be. Most people would far rather be considered a heavyweight in the brains or creativity Dept.

Sorry, wasn’t an implied insult. :o I don’t drink myself, so my knowledge on it is way below sea level.

By saying “officially drinking age” I figured vamp was looking to drink, so I gave an option I know of. :]

@wgallios Haha, I don’t know about Vegas! If it were me, I’d end up losing a good chunk of money, and it would definitely put a damper the special day. :(

@Cherry

What I don’t understand is why you would recommend something that could prove fatal.

Yes, fatal, as in dead. At 21. That is NOT an exaggeration at all. Alcohol poisoning can be fatal. Before you go casually recommending it just because you heard about it, why not get the facts? That way the person can make their decision based upon science rather than just a fad. That fad is killing students who had no idea that was a possibility.

Just put “21 for 21” into Goog and read the NY Times article which is the FIRST entry that comes up.

Or head on over to

www.brad21.org

There’s a handy scientific chart which can help people make educated decisions. That’s one of the most important parts of being an adult. And making an educated decision on this night can help ensure that someone gets to celebrate their 22nd birthday rather than unexpectedly ending their life because of a brainless ritual which happens to be a rising fad. That’s not the greatest thing for someone to sacrifice their life for, is it now?

Does it really make any sense at all to replace 21 candles with 21 drinks? Why? Just because the numbers match ?
Is that a great age for a funeral as well? Should they give out 21 drinks to each of the mourners at the wake following the funeral just because the numbers match?

Why does 21 drinks make sense at all in ANY context?

Well, I recommended it like I would recommend getting a pinata for a little kids birthday. Sure, plenty of kids end up hitting another kid or someone else with the bat, but from my own experience pinatas are fun and not extremely dangerous. (I don’t mean to say that alcohol poisoning is even near the same as getting whacked with a bat, because there’s no argument there. o.o Just that I’m throwing out an idea for a birthday that I’ve seen work positively before. =])

It’s probably just because I happen to know 5 lucky girls who did not die from this kind of partying, which is why I didn’t think twice of putting the option our there. Maybe it’s the ignorance of not hanging out with big drinkers, or not being affected by it.

I figured this was in the social area, not the general, so I didn’t know opinions needed to be researched. I’ll keep that in mind. :]

@vampmoore I was trying to think of more birthday ideas, but I was wondering if you wanted them to be specific to turning 21, or just any kind of birthday? Because you could always go to a late dinner at your favorite restaurant (one of my favorite birthday traditions) then out dancing with friends. Whatever your favorite thing to do is, turn it into a birthday party! We went laser tagging for 4 hours for my one friend’s party, just ‘cause we asked what his favorite thing to do was. :]

I hate when my internet reconnects after I write a message and try to send it.

just don’t forget to point out that it’s your 21st, so people other than your friends (i.e. bartenders and bouncers and strangers) pick up the tab for free drinks.

@Cherry

I don’t doubt that your intention was good. Perhaps you were unaware until now that drinking that much could be fatal.

You have a right to state any opinion you want and anyone else also has the right to challenge it’s validity, Social section or not.

My basic intention was just to get facts out. Adults are free to make their own decisions. Hopefully the info in that link to brad 21 will prompt healthier decision making.

And hopefully, when you turn 21 and have others around you trying to pressure you to do 21 drinks just cuz everyone’s doing it, you will be armed with enough factual information to make your own choice as to what will be healthy for you regardless of what anyone else is telling you.

Every single one of those young people who died prematurely on their 21st birthday did so because they were totally unaware that drinking this much could possibly kill them. That was the furthest thing from their minds. They just wanted to have a good time. It ended up being the last good time they ever had and that is such a tragic waste of potential.

This 21 drinks trend has been gaining more popularity over the last five years, as have the deaths from alcohol poisoning.

Research has shown that young people who have been presented with the scientific facts concerning blood alcohol levels and such are more likely to moderate their drinking and make healthier choices (and have just as good a time) and wake up alive to celebrate another day.

If this discussion might prompt that for someone reading the info on the brad 21 site, that’s what I’m hoping for. It’s all about balance and making healthy choices. 21 drinks isn’t healthy for anyone.

Those who survived it played Russian Roulette without ever realizing it. They got lucky. At least with RR the person knows what the odds are ahead of time and can decide for themselves whether or not to participate. 21 for 21 is playing RR with alcohol instead of bullets.

I don’t know about you, but for me the idea of holding a gun to my head and pulling the trigger hoping that the bullet is in the other five chambers just didn’t sound like fun. If someone dared me to do it, I’d look at them like they’re the crazy one.

If they expected me to do 21 drinks they’d get the same look and the same explanation. I don’t play Russian Roulette with bullets or with alcohol. Why would I want to? I’m rather fond of living.

Everyone else is free to make their own choices. I could care less if every other person in the bar wanted me to do 21 shots. I prefer not risking my life and I have the scientific. facts on my side rather than a passing fad.

Hopefully as many 21 yr. olds as possible will check out those facts and make their own decisions instead of following the crowd.

Ah, alright. :) Well, thank you, and that is good information. I think colleges are getting better at getting the facts out there now (possibly because more lawsuits are coming around because of alcohol caused deaths at frat parties and such.)

One thing with most young adults is that, I think, they generally don’t really think something will happen to them until it does. You don’t truly know how to sympathize with someone who lost their mother, until you’ve lost your mother/mother like figure, or something like that. “I haven’t been affected medically by alcohol before, why not just keep drinking?” Then when you yourself or a friend ends up in the ER, it’s like a reality check.

I personally don’t drink or plan to have anything more than wine in my life, but I’m okay with others’ drinking, because they have the same choice as me. And I do think the research is getting around to schools (and it’s good that it’s helping) but I know a lot of people at my school would hear it in one ear and let it go out the other. They’re not stupid, but they just came to college to treat it like a 4 year long drinking party, and ER visits/death scares aren’t going to change that. So, yes, hopefully the information will get through to a lot of people. Now I know that I have sources to reference, at least. :P

Most young people suffer from the illusion of immortality :)

But every once in a while it occurs to them that death could happen also. It’s just that it happens to the “other guy”

:)

Well, for my 21st most of my friends weren’t 21 yet so I went out with my one and only friend who was. We went to a few bars where some guys bought all of our drinks for us. I think it’s ok to get a little drunk, but make sure you have a friend who can watch out for you and drive you safely home.