Drunken Exodus

I've lived here for four years and so far I have been able to miss the mass undergraduate drunken exodus downtown. Until last night. It was enthralling. Seriously.

I normally go to a local bar on Friday nights, but I leave around 11pm, 1) because I'm old, and 2) because I want to avoid the drunk students. I see them arrive (some arrive on the "Drunk bus"; it shuttle students from campus to downtown.)

But, tonight there was a local band playing, and I have wanted to see them for some time--tonight was the time.

In addition to the band (who were great), there was the aftermath of a fight, lots of police, possibly some blood, an ambulance, and a pissed off girlfriend yelling, "And guess who will have to bail him out of jail?" into her phone.

And at exactly 1:00 AM the students swarmed out of three bars--all into the street. We stood in the "grown up" bar, watching. There were more fights, puking, and puking and fighting. We saw several games of How Many People Can We Stuff Into This Ginormous SUV. We're guessing twenty. We heard screams of "The Drunk Bus is here, run!" followed by the sound of four-inch heels dragging along the concrete as drunk girls stumbled to the bus. I stood outside, watching and waiting for the crowd to clear because I had to wade through it to get to my car. I also wanted to give the drunkest drivers a chance to get off the road before I headed out.

Seriously. Wow. Part of me wanted to take pictures because it was so fascinating. And the other part of me felt bad for wanting to take pictures.

I also saw There Will Be Blood tonight. Excellent.