Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I’m not Irish, but this holiday is impossible to miss. Shamrock green wreaths and inflatable leprechauns throughout my neighborhood makes the St. Patrick’s Day fever downright contagious, even to a those of us who have never tasted Irish soda bread or sipped a green beer. All day today the Irish, and the Irish at heart, will celebrate with family, friends, and a lot of good drinks.
Oh the drinks. There are a lot of them. In fact, did you realize that St. Patrick’s Day is one of the deadliest nights of the year because of the amount of fatalities due to drunk driving? (http://augustafreepress.com/st-patricks-day-is-one-of-deadliest-days-of-the-year-because-of-drunk-driving/)
But, I’m not going to lecture on the dangers of drunk driving. It’s been talked about many times and we’ve all been warned. However, those same fun-loving partiers who make the poor choice to get behind the wheel of a car after toasting to St. Patrick, are the same people who may wake up the next morning and have done things the night before that they wish they could take back.
But they can’t.
Remember that!
Too much drinking goes hand in hand with bad choices. There’s no fancy word to describe them – these choices are just bad. They are the kind of choices that:
Make for funny videos that can go viral before you even nurse your hangover the next morning.
Can hurt you professionally. No one wants to see their teacher half naked dancing on top of a table at a local tavern!
Can hurt you or someone you care about very badly – sometimes beyond repair.
The key point is that too much drinking impairs judgment. But, it is not an excuse for anything you do, it is only a reason. And it won’t matter to those who see your video, or to someone you cheated on, that you were just really drunk. Anyone who’s been on the receiving end of these excuses knows what I’m talking about.
“I’m sorry honey, I meant to call you I just passed out.”
“We were celebrating and having a good time. I was just dancing and got really hot”
“I don’t know whose panties they are.”
Yes, it was much easier to keep drunken mishaps a secret, or to keep the fallout to a minimum, before video cameras became as common to carry around as our car keys. Now, you are just being naive to think anything you do at any time can be kept quiet. And, once it’s out there it is virtually impossible to get it back.
So, the best way to stop St. Patrick’s day from turning into your own personal apocalypse? Stop drinking just before you lose all sense of judgment. When is that you ask? That is something only you will know. It’s personal. For me it is somewhere between when the guy I avoided all night suddenly looks cute, and I start thinking about what song to choose if they bring out the Karaoke machine! But that’s just me.
Take care of yourself today. Have fun but be safe and be smart. You’ll be much happier tomorrow.
