I’m loving reading the responses to my last post, the thing about bars! It’s nice to know I’m not totally alone, and I’m glad I’m getting some suggestions, too. One of my besties and budding blogger had a lot to say on the subject. I now present to you her take on things, the thing about bars – nyc edition:

Look, I get it. Bars are often glamorized as a place where the fabulous gather and meet up. Take Sex and the City for example… How many episodes featured Carrie Bradshaw in an impossibly expensive dress for her writer’s salary (how is that possible?) sipping a signature cosmo in front of a fully stocked elegant bar? Answer: pretty much all of them.

But what does that mean for young 20-somethings in the city who want a night out but don’t know where to turn. I admit, I came really late to the NYC bar scene (or really the bar scene in general to be honest). In college, I was always too terrified of getting caught being underage (and, unlike many bars around the country, most NYC bars are very vigilant about carding) to really go. But now, being in possession of a valid over-21 ID, I have been trying to get more and more into the bar scene… here are my feelings about it…

Why would I pay an exorbitant amount of money to drink something I could have made at home?
NYC is prohibitively expensive. Paying 14 dollars and up for a cocktail is lunacy in my opinion (and a sledgehammer to my budget).

What I do at bars:
-order a drink
-get hit on
-pretend I have a boyfriend
-get bored and go home

What most people in NYC do at bars:
-order drinks
-flirt/hook up (I could never do this as I have seen far too many episodes of Law and Order)
-leave with new hookup partner

I am the type of person who likes to be active when I am drinking. That is why I favor clubs as my drinking destination of choice. I love to dance and what better way than drunk? Not only are you having fun…you are burning calories. A workout while drinking? It is truly one of life’s few win-wins.

But, that being said, bars can be infinitely more fun if you are with a big group of friends. The cast of How I Met Your Mother doesn’t meet in MacLaren’s bar for nothing… it is because it is more fun in numbers. So my advice is, if you really want to go to bars, grab your friends and establish a local spot where you get to know the staff (as you will always get good bar gossip from them and table preferences) and get to know the regulars. It makes it a lot more fun.

IF ONLY college towns were crawling with legit clubs, I would be set! Sadly, I live in NC, not NYC. I’ll have to settle, I guess.

growing up is hard to do

November 22, 2010

1 Comment