The Age of Impulse.

Your twenties are a weird time. It's this all encompassing age that people just group together and, when asked how old they are, can get away with saying "I'm in my twenties"- regardless of which twenty they are. It's the decade when you are supposed to simultaneously have the most fun, travel the most, party a lot, make a hundred and one friends, but also find your life partner, buy a house, own a car, get a full-time well paying job and, by societies standards, have started your family.

Travelling has exposed me to so many of the variations of The Twenties and it's really quite funny. I travelled with a 26 year old who partied as hard as us 22 year olds, but also came across mid-twenties travellers that commented on the party scene as "I think I'm just too old for that now, I've grown out of it.". And that's my point in this post.

Your twenties are so largely shaped, influenced, anchored, and decorated with alcohol.

Yes, we drank when we were eighteen (hell, a lot of us drank when we were sixteen). And yes, we will be drinking when we are 50. But I was speaking to a friend the other day about how much I've become to realise that at the age of twenty two, so much of your social life is based on consuming alcohol. Which for me, as someone who does not often dive head first into a counter filled with tequila shots, is such a baffling- and frankly limiting- concept.

I don't like alcohol- at the moment. I've spent my legal years going through the waves of going out four nights a week and being left to listen to Prof. XYZ talk about Adolescent Psychological Development with a marching band ft. a french horn solo going on in my head. And then going months without even wanting to look at the stuff. Yes, I know, no one likes the taste of alcohol. But hear me out- I don't like being drunk. I think I have situational claustrophobia, which manifests in both the physical and psychological parts of my life. Crowds? Not a fan. Airplanes? No thanks. The tube? God help me. Suddenly realising I am totally plastered and can hardly string two words together, let alone stand still? Get. Me. Out.

And yes- there is no need to get to that point of being drunk. You don't have to spend every Wednesday or Thursday night glued to the weird leather couches in Tin Roof while the crowd of swaying bodies fades in and out of vision. But let me tell you something- you almost do.

Again, hear me out. I've gone to parties and had just one drink. I've said to people "I'm not going hard tonight". I've sipped on sparkling water with a slice of lemon and leaf of mint (great faux G&T). But kids, I can tell you one thing- once the clock strikes 10pm- you're going to bloody wish you were drunk. Because let's be honest- drunk people are the worst when you are sober. It's like dealing with reckless five year olds! They can hardly speak english, they can't really stand on their two feet, they think trying to climb the tree to get onto the roof is a good idea- you, as the sober one, become the babysitter for oversized toddlers.

But again- why do you go? Why not just avoid the party scene and focus on other ways to socialise with your friends or meet new people?

Now this is a funny thing. I have done the very sober thing where I even avoid the drinks on a Friday night (that inevitably turn into more), but I want to tell you one thing from my own experience. Even if you are having a chilled braai at your friends- someone will always be cracking open the Smirnoff- or even be getting high. Don't get me wrong. I am not saying anything is wrong with any of it. Have a good time. Enjoy yourself. Turn everything into a party! It's just an observation I made this past week. Unless you are at a wholesome lunch with your nearest and dearest, or going for a quick weekday coffee with a mate- alcohol is there. We are at the age where we very genuinely find a way to bring it into every social situation.

Girls sleepover? Wine night.

Birthday brunch? Birthday Bubbles.

Sunday Picnic? Did you say G&T?

Young cousins 10th birthday party? Let's get tipsy with Aunty and hear about the trials of shopping at Woolies after the school pick up.

It's everywhere.

It's just an interesting concept: both the decade in history and the decade in our lives are defined by hustling alcohol, dance parties, loud music, dressing up to be seen, debauchery and drugs, the likes! The Roaring Twenties.

Again, I love a good party as much as the next person. But it's such a part of this era of over consumption that we're living in at the moment. Are we all just too self conscious in our sober states to socialise? Are we so bored with the every day that we have to blur the edges, add some coloured lights, and turn the music up every weekend? Do we really think it's funnier to be stumbling down Long Street at 3am, dodging Ubers and the local drug dealer in our own waltz of "Where the hell am I and when did I get this drunk?"

I don't know, maybe my mind will change again and I'll be posting stories on Insta of another wild night out. Or maybe I'll stick to the non-alcoholic lifestyle for a while longer. I just find it amusing that so much of our socialising is rooted in it's consumption. And don't get me started on the head tilts or awkward nods on the other end of "nah I don't really drink that much" when asked why I'm not joining the conga line of people who just funnelled Powerade and Russian Bear. Talk about a conversation killer.

Don't throw out your gin and cheap wine. Enjoy them. But also get creative! Find social situations that don't require a drink- get to know the people you did Jägerbombs with last Saturday over a coffee. I can assure you, most people are worth getting to know beyond the curtain of a-few-too-many.