Life is more fun when you’re basic
One day, people will care about how I get drunk. They’ll judge what I order at the bar, what I have to offer guests when they visit and, worst of all, what I like to drink if I’m just enjoying the taste of it.
That day isn’t today.
Because today, it doesn’t matter whether I’m drinking Gilbey’s plastic toilet-grade vodka or a nice, classy bottle of aged Fireball. Today, it’s simply a matter of getting from point A (sober) to point B (crushing the dance floor, becoming everyone’s best friend and hitting up Taco Bell). And today, all my friends are on the same page. We’re all on one journey together: to get drun — I mean, to get our degrees.
That’s a beautiful thing.
This general attitude applies to more than just drinking — although you can get to point B completely sober — and goes into just about everything relating to college. I was recently grabbing coffee with a friend before class, and she remarked on how “basic” she felt wearing Uggs and yoga pants, as if it were a bad thing. But you know what? Uggs and yoga pants are comfortable. Uggs and yoga pants look fantastic. Uggs and yoga pants feel safe. I won’t pretend to understand fashion or trends or fuzzy boots, but why feel so bad if it feels so good?
That’s how I felt when I took a look at my most-played songs on Spotify one day last year. In high school, I had time to learn about cool bands with interesting, meaningful things to say. My favorite rapper was Lupe Fiasco — someone who spit complex lyrics with dizzying levels of substance, hidden meanings and subtle wordplay. Now? If I can’t pregame or work out to it, I don’t listen to it. I dropped 200 of my hard-earned dollars on tickets to see Drake and Future this summer in Oakland. The last concert I went to was Diplo and Dillon Francis. I’m not listening to anything with an incredible amount of meaning or substance or depth, but I have such a stupid amount of fun when the bass drops or when I sing along to Take Care lyrics that literally everyone knows. Is Calvin Harris really pushing the boundaries of music or making any important statements? No. But I’m sure as hell gonna do two extra reps at the gym when “You Used To Hold Me” comes on.
I’m tired of people trying to one-up each other when it comes to the things that are meant to be purely fun. Music should be fun. Clothes should be fun(ctional). Drinking should be fun. And yes, college should be fun. We’ll have the rest of our lives to try to one-up each other. We’ll be playing the comparing game until we’re too old to care anymore. That’s a lifetime of obsessing over whose kids made the track team and whose spouse is working where and who’s looking somewhat presentable despite menopause and three kids. Who cares if you’re being “basic” now?
Life is more fun with cheap vodka. So go ahead. Feel the Burn-ettes. Snapchat all the concerts you go to. Listen to “millennial garbage” music. Or not. Do your thing. As long as you’re not hurting yourself or anyone else, it’s beyond me why anyone would tell you to do anything different. We’ll all be old and fat and gross one day anyway.
I’ll drink to that.
You can reach YINON RAVIV at ravivyinon@gmail.com.
