By
Maggie Burnett
Arizona Summer Wildcat
Alcohol is ruining my life.
Well, I should say alcohol is ruining my social life, or in this case, my lack thereof.
Allow me to introduce myself. To the average person, I am merely a 20-year-old college student, melting slowly in the heat of the Tucson desert and working three jobs just to pay the rent.
However, to the trendy bar-goer, I am a20-year-old college student, otherwise known as "the kid not yet old enough to get into the local bars."
Hey, it's a rough life.
So here I sit, day in and night out, watching my 21-year-old friends head out to the bars and some days, even driving them to their next binge-drinking destination. This is a routine that has become quite familiar to me and, quite frankly, I'm sick of it.
A few weeks back, a certain local bar (one that shall remain unnamed) actually let me through its doors to sit with a few friends on the patio. Because the bar also serves food, it could allow me to pass through its doors under the premise that I not order alcohol. Fair enough.
However, a week later, when I dragged along several other unassuming underage bar-hoppers, the bar got wise and asked us either to sit at a table not being served alcohol or leave. Don't worry - we complied. The law is the law, after all.
Still, I'd like to know what dried-up, old screwball decided 21 must be the legal age to drink.
Take the Bush girls, for example. Living in what could be considered the world's biggest fish bowl (the White House), the 19-year-old twin college students were charged on June 14 with underage drinking offenses at a local Chuy's restaurant, a popular hangout known for its Mexican food· and kick-ass margaritas.
Upon further investigation, it was determined that Jenna Bush ordered a margarita, using a "valid" fake ID, along with her sister, Barbara, who ordered a drink as well. Jenna's ID was denied while Barbara's was accepted.
This so-called "crime" the Bush girls engaged in is one committed on a daily basis on college campuses throughout the nation. College students, seeking good times and a few laughs with their friends, are denied this natural right simply because aren't old enough.
A colleague of mine recently made a valid point about the disadvantage to the age barrier placed on drinking. Contrary to popular opinion, a good portion of the time, students aren't necessarily looking to get drunk at the bars but more or less looking to just hang out.
In other words, slap a wrist band or a stamp on me that says I'm not 21 or vice versa, and then let me into the damn bar. I can find 100 other ways to get blitzed without being 21. But a vast majority of the time, I can't find a single thing to do in this town while my friends are out at the bars.
I'm not saying 14-year-old kids should be allowed to grab a wristband and settle down for a night of working the club scene. My point is simply this: college is the time when a person is meant to have the freedom to be surrounded by other people and events of a diverse social and intellectual nature.
Ironically, the center of this universe happens to revolve around establishments that do not allow those under the age of 21 - the common age of a college student - to enter their doors.
So woe is me, the 20-year-old, broke college kid looking to spend a few nights a week surrounded by good music, good vibes and good friends in a place more commonly known as a bar.
Instead, I will sit patiently on the couch and wait for my buddies to saunter in with a handful of new stories to share and several hours worth of friendly bonding already under their belts.
Yes, alcohol has ruined my social life. But when I do finally turn 21 in a few short weeks, look out world. Tucson will go down in a blaze of glory and I'm taking every last dried-up, old screwball with me.
