Liquid Romance

I would like to begin by exploring the notion of romance involved with weekend alcohol purchases. Alcohol has long held the role of a social lubricant among weekend gatherings. Like the oil that maintains the college social machine, alcohol facilitates interaction between students by blocking off major inhibitions. These inhibitions are the product of various social anxieties. Ranging from rejection to humiliation, they prevent a student from professing his love to an admired crush, fantasizing about moments of heart-to-heart connection rather than pursuing those fantasies in reality. Not only does it decrease inhibitions, but it fuels the sexual hunt, increasing the individual's libido and pushing forth the romantic social factor. This makes romantic fantasies seem obtainable and worth the risk. For the young males and females that belong to the college community, alcohol has obtained a romantic status; one which promises interpersonal opportunities for connection. Whether the desire is to find a romantic partner or a purely sexual one night stand, alcohol has become the cupid's arrow among student minds, a tool to facilitate the search for love and lust.

In an environment where one seems out of place if he or she is not wielding an alcoholic drink, alcohol has become an almost necessary medium for romantic interaction. If an individual fails to obtain a stock of alcohol for the weekend, that individual has been set back in social assets, deeming him or her unprepared to host visitors and possible love connections. There is also the societal notion that a male must be equally drunk to a female in order to justify a moral hook-up; a rule that pushes alcohol as an equalizer between willing men and women. Since alcohol has become such an ingrained aspect of college socialization, a conscious non-drinker is severely limited in his choice of mates, making alcohol a desirable means to the rest of the female population. Could this be why students have become so dependent on weekly alcohol consumption? Without alcohol, the possibility of sexual encounters and weekend love affairs seems to dwindle back into unobtainable fantasy. Could alcohol dependency be responsible for the construction of such a fantasy and the collapse of traditional mating rituals?

I have been in close connection to a student named Glenn who has purchased alcohol from the local liquor store for four years. He had been an active participant in the weekend mating game for almost three of those years, purchasing large bottles of expensive liquor in order to obtain the mental state of "blackout". This is the intoxicated state in which he would belligerently pursue any female within the proximity with absurd honesty, completely unaware of those actions in the coming morning. Reaching the point of no inhibitions, Glenn could openly ask any female if they would like to agree to sexual intercourse with him. Although this student had a large, menacing appearance, he was well known around campus as a humorously affectionate character. Because of this, most women did not sense his aggressiveness as a danger and just passed him off with understanding laughter. In a few cases, Glenn's belligerent honesty actually attracted women, some who were extreme sexual deviants and others who must have appreciated his openness. By the end of the third year, Glenn had become physically and mentally tired from his weekend blackouts, deciding to reduce his amount of alcohol consumption significantly. It was then that Glenn met his girlfriend, not through weekend partying, but through class. After settling down with this girl, Glenn rarely consumed alcohol at all. He decided that weekend drinking was not worth the trouble anymore and that he would rather stay at home with his new partner. Despite his new take on weekend college gatherings, Glenn continues to visit the local liquor store weekly, purchasing small amounts of alcohol to stock up the refrigerator.

After finding a compatible mate, Glenn completely denounced social alcohol consumption on campus as an unnecessary ritual. He no longer saw the point in even leaving his apartment, let alone his room. Yet, he remained loyal to the liquor store business as regular customer. What does this say about alcohol dependency and weekend rituals? Is weekend socializing only necessary for those in search of love and lust, or does it offer other opportunities for escape?

The Objective

This website will act as my ethnographic journal as I begin to research the role of alcohol in college student social interaction. The location I will be focusing on is a small town liquor store in close vicinity to two colleges, making it the primary alcohol vendor for those two schools. Business flows according to the student schedule, with weekly rush hours appearing and disappearing like clockwork. The store sees its big business hours on Friday and Saturday nights, with students packing out the shop, eager to make their weekend purchases. With two hours until store closing, the parking lot becomes riddled with haphazardly parked vehicles as students rush in and out, greeting, socializing, and mapping out their nightly options. Carrying boxes full of bottles full of intoxicating fluids, the students return to their campuses to live out their uninhibited social desires.

Alcohol has been used as a social lubricant since the establishment of recorded history, giving godly substance to the Greek Dionysian festivals and fueling the underground social resistance of the American speakeasies. My study will focus on student socialization, providing details about the emerging concept of the weekend warriors, or those who live for the weekend. The weekend warrior in relation to the student, is one who commits to school and studies during the week, only to escape into the uninhibited pursuit of pleasure and fulfillment when the weekend arrives. Alcohol seems to be the key component to assisting the weekend warrior's often desperate search for relief. But Why?

Has alcohol become the medicine of choice for suppressing anxiety and unhappiness, acting as temporary relief from the pressures of the school system? Or is alcohol just a platform to obtain what is really at demand; human interaction and interpersonal communication? Has society become so detached from peer to peer interaction that it requires mind altering drugs to facilitate socialization? Perhaps alcohol is just another substance to combat society's growing vulnerability to social anxieties, an effort to meet increased social demands as a functioning member of the student body. Whatever the reason, the majority of students seem to be dependent on alcohol to race through the fast-paced weekends, visiting the liquor store like it is a weekly errand. In this lifestyle, where does the role of the liquor store lie, and what does the store do to encourage alcoholic consumption?

I will attempt to answer these questions and define other peculiar characteristics of the system, as I observe the relationship of the liquor store to the students and the students to each other within this small community.