It's a regular statement made amongst college students and post-college grads who still tend to party hard -
Do you know what happened last night?
Blackout. Blurry. Missing pieces of the night. This tends to happen when large consumptions of alcohol are consumed. Most of us have been there, some way more often than others, where we cant remember what happened the night before. We need the help of our friends to piece everything together or sometimes we use our cell phone to see what text messages were sent or if any phone calls were made - looking for someone to fill us in on the details of the night.
Sometimes this can be scary, especially if you dont know how you got home or where any of your things are (most of the time your things are with your friends or hidden under your clothes on the floor). And it can be somewhat embarrassing when your friends are filling you in on the crazy things that you did the night before - like dancing on the bar, making love to that chili cheese dog that you bought at the hot dog stand on the street, puking in a garbage can in the beer garden only to go back into the bar and buy another drink - all in the name of partying.
But why do we "black out?" Sometimes you cant figure it out - how did I drink so much that I dont remember? The body works in mysterious ways because one can never say they are okay after a certain amount of drinks - it all depends on your mood, your diet for the day (aka did you eat a lot, did you eat nothing) how much water you drank all day, the type of partying you are doing, and the climate/area that you are in (blackouts tend to happen more at higher altitude due to the alcohol moving into the bloodstream faster). In any case - one can never predict when a blackout will occur.
There was a time in college that it seemed like it was inevitable that the nights that I was "going to take it easy" were the nights that I blacked out (and actually still sometimes happens to this day) I remember one incident where I woke up in my bed, tshirt on backwards, laying face up with my hands crossed on my chest like I was laying in a coffin, and uneaten pizza laying right next to me that I had no idea how it was paid for because it never showed up on my checking account and I had no cash on me that night, and my clothes laying on the floor of my bed covered in mud with some mud in my hair and fingernails. And i remember going "What??? I was only supposed to go out for a couple drinks!"
For those interested in knowing what actually happened, apparently the couple of drinks turned into a Cochran barcrawl with people I worked with, it started to downpour during the last leg of it and a couple of us decided to get into a mud fight outside Station, where then I turned and apparently ran accross the street to Papa Johns because I was hungry and somehow talked some guy into buying one for me, he was expecting something more in return but once the pizza was in my hands I bolted and ran home with it and passed out without ever touching it. Thank goodness for friends who whitnessed this whole showing.
Now obviously this is a pretty "tame" situation where one wakes up and doesnt remember anything - but its a good example of how alcohol can have that affect on you. Some of the most common questions I have gotten from friends when they wanted to know what happened last night was:
"How did I get these bruises on my body?"
"Where are my shoes?"
"How did he/she end up in my bed or back at my place?"
"Why do I have (whatever they found) in my pocket/purse?"
"How did I get home last night?"
"I just looked at my camera - I dont remember taking any of these pictures." "
Where did we go last night?"
Usually this is where I start laughing and fill them in on whatver I know happened. I am usually that friend who remembers a good portion of the night to let everyone know what went down (it is very rare for me to blackout and when I do - oh dear!) so I get to be the one to fill them on thier humourous adventures of the night. Sometimes, if I am feeling like having some fun, I make some things up just to get them really nervous.
But blacking out can have some serious consequences if you arent with your friends to help you along the way. Some people black out, and literally dont know how they got home, who they are with, and what they are doing. If this happens and you get separated from your friends, you just have to hope that you are safe. Yes, sometimes the situations can be funny but you have to look at the overall picture of what could happen. Rapes, attacks, muggings can occur if you are vulnerable - so one just has to hope that when this occurs your friends are there.
Going past the safety issues, blacking out is one of the most common causes for a good laugh the next day. "So you dont remember asking that guy If I text you, will you text me back?" "Omg you should have seen the way you were dancing on the dance floor, we couldnt tell if you were trying to do the robot or if you just forgot how to move" "You ate that sandwich like it was going to be your last meal ever. Oh and do you remember stealing those bags of chips as well?" "You stumbled onto the rooftop, just fell into the chair, arms in the air screaming ITS MY BIRTHDAY like everyone in the bar should know. And then you fell down the stairs as security was kicking you out, kept calling the female cab driver sir, forced your credit card into my hands and kept saying drink on me tonight"
Yes, we have all laughed about these scenarios with our friends a time or two. And everyone has been there at some point - if you havent then you just dont party hard enough.
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