There was a crowd at the bar last night lustfully drowning in alcohol while aspiring to an imaginary level of happiness wrought by chemicals and situational feelings of bonding. I honestly felt sorry for the girls working the floor, delivering drinks and cajoling those around to give her tips in order to sing drunkenly into the karaoke microphones.
I don't know why I went. My impulse reaction was to decline and suggest something that wouldn't take up so much time. Class let out early and the invitation sat in my voicemail like some sort of exotic unknown.
I was entertained people watching for most of the night. A few demonstrated irritation that I would not drink, but they soon forgot about me in their pleas to be next in line for the wireless microphones.
There were many highlights to the evening. The 21 year old who would not stop freaking out about having left her car in a parking lot in fear that it would be hit and be worth nothing. The man with a large pink my-little-pony tattoo on his left rib cage that spread over most of the left side of his torso would not let his pitcher of beer go. He held onto it for an hour. While most people divided their pitches between at least 4 people, he nursed his for a good while.
I was exhausted by the time we left. I hadn't really made any new friends, but I met a few old ones. Each time I go out to bars, particularly in these trendy areas of Hollywood I come back with a pessimistic view of the youth of the country. These are the people who will face the future, and they're lost in destructive self indulgent decadence.
