Rites of passage
When I think of rites of passage one event that stands out the most is the first time I got drunk. Since then drinking has certainly weaseled itself into my life in a big way. I grew up in Brooklyn so I would like to think my first time drinking would have been something cool, like sneaking into a dirty dive bar or secretly sipping cheap wine at a gallery opening while my mom wasnât looking. The first time I actually drank alcohol I was about five. My father dragged me to a bar and somehow managed to convince the bar tender it was ok to give a five year old in Aladdin pajamas a glass of baileys. But this was normal behavior for our father daughter âbondingâ time and never really stood out to me. The first time I got drunk however, I was sat in my parents basement with a few friends pretending to do laundry. We had just found out that a group of girls in our grade had gotten âdrunkâ the previous weekend and as it was the talk of the school we decided to give it a shot. That first sip of Bacardi was literally the worst thing I had ever experienced in my life and I was genuinely confused why my parents liked drinking so much. About half and hour later it clicked. I donât even think I was actually that drunk as I had only taken two or three shots. But I was twelve and felt cool and rebellious. I knew what people acted like when they had been drinking, I had seen it a lot growing up. So we went with it. We laughed and swayed and wasted half a bottle of listerine on making sure my mom and step dad wouldnât know what we had been up to. So no, this wasnât the most exciting event ever. Sitting next to the dryer chasing an old bottle of Bacardi my friend and I had managed to find among the rest of the clutter ,with the orange juice my mother had no doubt bought for me to drink before school. I hate that this day had such a big influence on my identity because there is a lot more to me then drinking , but from my tween days in the basement or sat on park benches drinking alcohol we had stolen from our parents liquor cabinets, to being in my twenties and having my first âWHERE THE FUCK AM I?â moment upon waking up in a strange location, that one rainy day next to the dryer initiated me into the world of bad decisions and hangovers.
