My favorite vice is what makes me my father’s son. It begins with the distinct fear that if I don’t get drunk with my boys tonight, I’ll be stuck with this fear of missing out. We call this ‘FOMO’ for short. Does this justify heavy drinking for three to four hours before a night out only to be greeted by a hangover the morning after? You bet your noodle it does. You can either be drunk or you can be the guy that should have gotten drunk. After all, drinking only becomes a problem when it impedes on your social life. Well, since the foundation of my social life is already centered on drinking, I’d call that a win-win.

It’s all about the sense of self-actualization you think you might achieve compassionately embracing your former co-worker from three years ago. It could also be about picking a fight with someone while waiting in line at the club, or finally making the move on that special someone that makes it all worth it. After all, it’s the feeling of invincibility that drives us to expand the limits of our self-induced boundaries.

On the other hand, there is a wide spectrum of sobriety. Even a drunken a night out with your best friends can take a whole new look from the lens through the “boring” goggles. On a normal night out, I have probably allotted a sufficient amount of pre-gaming with my circle. This includes: talking, hanging out, and the occasional odd mishap.

After an amicable encounter with the Uber driver, we find ourselves wading through an ocean of equally content party goers. They are often making friendly conversation with our comrades in line until we make it inside our respective venue. From this point, the night turns into somewhat of a haze. It comes down to either eating pizza or walking the five kilometer journey home. For the most part, it’s usually good and well until you look at it from the other side.

Through the sober perspective, our pre-game at home probably looks like a series of random events, alongside common miscommunications that can often turn into a disagreement. Once that is settled, the making friendly with strangers in line probably looks more like a pissing contest between people that refuse to find an easy solution for a petty issue. It all seems pretty textbook from this perspective.

Sometimes I can’t decide whether it’s drinking that I like or the antics associated with it. Either way a vice is a vice and if you can’t learn to live with it you better learn how to play nice.