I’m too old for this

This weekend my chapter of Delta Lambda Phi held initiation in West Lafayette . Initiation is my favorite ritual we take part in as a brotherhood; it instills in the new brothers a sense of shared experience, and reminds those of us who are, ehm, older why the brotherhood is so important.

This particular weekend was good for many, many reasons. First, a large number of alumni were present, which adds a certain esteem to the event (in my mind at least). I was happy to see Mark , Mike, Jason and the others. Second, we initiated 3 new brothers who promise to be fabulous additions to the chapter.

Finally, we partied like we just turned 21. OK, not exactly like that, but my head feels like it this morning. I think my body’s trying to tell me, “look buddy, you’re 27 now; prepare for old age.” Or maybe not. The party was actually pretty low key compared to some of our past events (let’s see… “a keg and 15 people; sounds about right!” or “really, doing apple pie shots in rapid succession won’t make you that sick” or “do you think a Mardi Gras theme will degenerate too quickly? nah” ). We can thank the fat bitch next door and the two police cruisers she called out for an overall very quiet event. But that was actually nice; I got to talk to the new brothers and some people I don’t usually chat with at parties. And I still got tanked (albeit inadvertantly… OK, I’m lying; I totally planned it).

I blame Patrick and Jeremy, really. The were bartending (maybe that’s too strong a word; all I know is they were pouring from large bottles and seemed to have some clue what they were doing), and even though I only had 3 drinks, when I crashed at 6 this morning I crashed hard. Or maybe it was the Tanqueray; Mark and I decided that, as “elder statesmen” (aka alumni), we needed to raise the booze bar; goodbye McCormick’s, hello Skyy (and Tanqueray #10).

And of course, when you’re walking a block and a half from your car with a 1.75 liter bottle of booze in one hand and a 22 pound bag of ice in the other, you realize that it really is just the simple things.