What it’s like to be the only sober one at a party

So this is what a frat house actually looks like…

College is the time where most people use their freedom to party as much as they want and have fun. However, there are obviously people who don’t like drinking, or people like me who can’t drink much at all. So the next time you’re at a party and see someone who is 100 percent sober, here is what’s probably going through their mind.

I love my friends, but they can be hella annoying when they’re obnoxiously drunk

Your friends are the people you go to for everything, but when they are obnoxiously drunk, and you’re not, it’s not hard to get annoyed. I rarely drink because anxiety medication and alcohol do not mix well, which results in me being the sober friend for the most part. I still like going out and having a good time, but parties get crazy annoying when you’re the only person sober enough to know what’s going on. You also have to answer the same questions over and over again from your drunk friends and encourage them not to make bad choices.

Parties aren’t as much fun if you’re not drinking

The music is loud and it’s hot and gross everywhere you go. When you’re drinking, you don’t usually notice how hot the room is, or how loud the music is, but that is the first thing you notice when you’re not drinking. Parties at Iowa State are often in the basement of whatever frat or party house you are in, or if you’re in an apartment, it will be ridiculously crowded. Either way, you get way too hot and you’re miserable because you’re obviously not drunk enough to ignore it.

Guys are more obnoxious drunk than they are sober

Flirting with drunk guys is fun when you are also drunk, but when you’re not, it’s annoying and over-bearing. Most of them can’t take a hint when you get annoyed, and they continue to bother you even if you ditch them by going to find your friends or running to the bathroom. When you say you don’t want to dance with them, it’s usually hard to get them to leave you alone. On the other hand, it’s fun to mess with them when they’re drunk. If they are drunk enough, they won’t be able to tell if you are serious about anything, so when you’re the only sober one, it’s nice to have a little fun.

Keeping track of your friends is hard

If you go out with all of your friends, and you are left in charge, it’s hard to keep track of everyone. There’s always the one friend who is trying to dance their way through the party, so they just randomly walk off. There’s usually another friend who is so drunk they don’t know what’s going on, so you have to keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t wander off as well. Sometimes there’s even a friend who simply likes exploring, so they will wander off and try to meet as many people as possible. Then, there’s the flight risk friend, who forgets to tell you when they are leaving to go to another party, so you search for them for 20 minutes before you can get ahold of them.

    

You start thinking of literally anything else you could be doing

When your annoyance level hits its peak, you start thinking of anything else you could be doing. Even though it’s lame to do homework on a Friday or Saturday night, that is usually where my mind goes first. After I talk myself out of leaving a party to do homework, my mind usually goes to what Netflix series I could be watching, or what movie marathon I could be watching on ABC Family, or ABC Freeform, or whatever it’s called now. Sometimes that is enough to get me to leave. Other times, the thought of going to bed at a decent time after a long week is enough to get me to leave, and convince my friends to come with so I don’t have to worry about them.


Regardless of whether I enjoy myself or not, the night usually ends in me or my other roommate who doesn’t drink, taking our friends to get food in the middle of the night, which works out for everyone involved.

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Iowa State University