My beloved sister turns 21 today. Technically, if we go by Philippine standard time (which is where she was born), she's been 21 for over twenty four hours. But what's so great about turning 21 anyway? I never understood why it's regarded such a huge milestone -- when the only thing you could do (that you couldn't do "legally") from the day before is purchase/consume alcohol with no guilt. Oh, and waltz into a club proudly flashing your OWN driver's license. Big deal. Most kids have already acquired alcohol (and gotten a hangover) before they even finish grade school, and it's gotten more easy nowadays to get a fake ID for $50 from some disgruntled DMV ex-employee. You can get a driving permit by 16. Cigarettes and voting privileges are given out at 18. But your insurance doesn't get adjusted until you turn 25.
Alright, I admit ---- I had the typical booze party when I turned 21. My friends were all in a mission to test my boundaries with hard liquor, but I remorsefully only made it to the 15th shot before throwing up all over the yard. I don't remember very much after that, besides being passed around by at least 3 of my staggering friends while they tried to tuck me into bed -- with a glass of water and a puke-bucket on the bedside table. But like my previous point, it wasn't like I had never had Captain Morgan (that's what did me in) before. Granted it was the first time I actually passed out.... some might actually consider that a right of passage.
And NO, 21-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to complain that they feel old. That's just stupid. That's like Bill Gates complaining about a $2.99 combo platter at Dennys.
But when you think about it, turning 21 is really the last "milestone" of youth. After that comes turning 30, then 40, after which you lose count and start saying things like "Great things get finer with age -- like wine. Har! Har!" I guess it's the last hurdle to enjoying the benefits of adulthood, but what you lose is the "forbidden" element of childhood. No more coercing your older loser friends to buy the beer, no more excitement of sneaking into the club with an ID that says you are 30 and lived in some buck-state-nowhere.
What you might get after the excessive drinking ritual is a pang of guilt that you have crossed the threshold to adulthood and that your mooching-off-of-mommy days are probably slowly coming to an end.
So get, Sissy! Don't worry.. mom let me used her washing machine even after I moved out. ;)
Alright, I admit ---- I had the typical booze party when I turned 21. My friends were all in a mission to test my boundaries with hard liquor, but I remorsefully only made it to the 15th shot before throwing up all over the yard. I don't remember very much after that, besides being passed around by at least 3 of my staggering friends while they tried to tuck me into bed -- with a glass of water and a puke-bucket on the bedside table. But like my previous point, it wasn't like I had never had Captain Morgan (that's what did me in) before. Granted it was the first time I actually passed out.... some might actually consider that a right of passage.
And NO, 21-year-olds shouldn't be allowed to complain that they feel old. That's just stupid. That's like Bill Gates complaining about a $2.99 combo platter at Dennys.
But when you think about it, turning 21 is really the last "milestone" of youth. After that comes turning 30, then 40, after which you lose count and start saying things like "Great things get finer with age -- like wine. Har! Har!" I guess it's the last hurdle to enjoying the benefits of adulthood, but what you lose is the "forbidden" element of childhood. No more coercing your older loser friends to buy the beer, no more excitement of sneaking into the club with an ID that says you are 30 and lived in some buck-state-nowhere.
What you might get after the excessive drinking ritual is a pang of guilt that you have crossed the threshold to adulthood and that your mooching-off-of-mommy days are probably slowly coming to an end.
So get, Sissy! Don't worry.. mom let me used her washing machine even after I moved out. ;)
1 comment:
You summed it up perfectly....Ah 21, I remember it like it was yesterday. My biggest decisions were whether or not I should go to class and which bar to hit later that night. The good ole days.
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