Ridiculous Things You Read On Facebook

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:49 am

The idea of going to a school in a huge city like Saint Louis and partying almost exclusively on campus at frat parties strikes me as about the saddest thing I've ever heard.

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:53 am

For some reason during my senior year in high school I got deluged with recruiting materials from Wash U despite 1) never proactively reaching out to them, 2) not living near St. Louis, 3) probably not having the academic pedigree and 4) certainly not having the money to go there. Still strikes me as completely random and bizarre to this day.

Post by **Shirley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 11:55 am

brian wrote:The idea of going to a school in a huge city like Saint Louis and partying almost exclusively on campus at frat parties strikes me as about the saddest thing I've ever heard.

How are you going to party around the city when you're underage and don't have a car? Wash U isn't exactly right by downtown, you know. When I was a senior and had a car and the ability to drink elsewhere, I never went to the frat house again.

As an underclassman though, fraternities provided lots of free beer. Hard to top that.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:02 pm

brian wrote:The idea of going to a school in a huge city like Saint Louis and partying almost exclusively on campus at frat parties strikes me as about the saddest thing I've ever heard.

I moved to St. Louis about a year ago, and completely agree with this. Wash U is within walking distance of the Delmar Loop, which is one of the best spots in the city for restaurants, bars, etc. Not sure what things were like 10 or 20 years ago, but the notion that there's no fun spots other than frats is definitely not true anymore.

ETA: I'm old enough that I don't get carded at most spots, so I don't know how big of a deal being underage would be. But FWIW, my girlfriend is 24 and doesn't get carded very often when we go out in St. Louis.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:09 pm

Underage is a different story, agreed. But somehow we never had any trouble finding places to party though again to be fair I didn't go to a private school. I don't know what Wash U's enrollment is or what percentage of students there were Greek, but I still don't completely buy the argument that not being in a fraternity would have stunted your ability to cut loose on weekends.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:13 pm

Sort of related though also sort of not I'll also say that the few times we got away with drinking underage in a bar using whatever ruse happened to work were some of the most fun times we had in college. There's nothing quite like getting away with something.

(Most memorably I was busted for drinking underage in a bar in Iowa City before a CMU-Iowa football game literally 7 days before I turned 21. To their credit and my relief the Iowa City police didn't bother citing me.)

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:21 pm

brian wrote:(Most memorably I was busted for drinking underage in a bar in Iowa City before a CMU-Iowa football game literally 7 days before I turned 21. To their credit and my relief the Iowa City police didn't bother citing me.)

Where I went you would have very likely been removed from school. Expulsions occurred for people who got caught over the summer in a different city.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:27 pm

It was more of a badge of honor than anything at my school. It took at least two pinches for drinking underage in the dorms to even get university probation.

sancarlos · Post by **sancarlos** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:36 pm

Times have certainly changed. Back in the stone age, sometimes, on a weekend night on my dorm floor, we'd take up a collection, buy a keg, and put it in the hallway for everyone. Most of us were underage. Nobody stopped us, unless the noise got out of hand. But, their issue was noise, not alcohol.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:41 pm

All in all a bunch of kids bunge drinking in one single place where they are theoretically within walking distance to their bed is usually a better idea than most alternatives.

Post by **Shirley** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:45 pm

brian wrote:Underage is a different story, agreed. But somehow we never had any trouble finding places to party though again to be fair I didn't go to a private school. I don't know what Wash U's enrollment is or what percentage of students there were Greek, but I still don't completely buy the argument that not being in a fraternity would have stunted your ability to cut loose on weekends.

At the time at Wash U, the unofficial policy was that if you were a student and on campus, they didn't card and they'd let you drink (but not really in the dorms). That actually changed a bit by my last two years, but it didn't matter as much to me by then.

I never really had a good fake ID and there was only one bar that was reasonable walking distance from campus. Yes, the Delmar Loop was kinda close, but you couldn't really get there easily walking. I don't recall anyone ever doing that. Why walk through dark, vaguely scary neighborhoods to go pay for alcohol with a crappy ID that probably won't work anyway when you could drink for free and without hassle right where you lived?

BTW, I lived in the Delmar Loop area my senior year and it was great. I rarely went to campus outside of class. Back then though, you still had to be a bit careful walking around there. It's probably been gentrified now, but then it was very close to some seedy neighborhoods.

Joe K · Post by **Joe K** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 12:57 pm

Shirley wrote:
brian wrote:Underage is a different story, agreed. But somehow we never had any trouble finding places to party though again to be fair I didn't go to a private school. I don't know what Wash U's enrollment is or what percentage of students there were Greek, but I still don't completely buy the argument that not being in a fraternity would have stunted your ability to cut loose on weekends.
At the time at Wash U, the unofficial policy was that if you were a student and on campus, they didn't card and they'd let you drink (but not really in the dorms). That actually changed a bit by my last two years, but it didn't matter as much to me by then.

I never really had a good fake ID and there was only one bar that was reasonable walking distance from campus. Yes, the Delmar Loop was kinda close, but you couldn't really get there easily walking. I don't recall anyone ever doing that. Why walk through dark, vaguely scary neighborhoods to go pay for alcohol with a crappy ID that probably won't work anyway when you could drink for free and without hassle right where you lived?

BTW, I lived in the Delmar Loop area my senior year and it was great. I rarely went to campus outside of class. Back then though, you still had to be a bit careful walking around there. It's probably been gentrified now, but then it was very close to some seedy neighborhoods.

Interesting. Nowadays, pretty much any neighborhood south of Delmar is pretty safe, so the walk between Wash U and the Loop wouldn't concern me. But most areas north of Delmar are still very dangerous. The Loop itself is pretty heavily policed, but I'm guessing the police are far more concerned with violent crimes (there was some serious teen violence there earlier this year) than with underage drinking.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:18 pm

brian wrote:Underage is a different story, agreed. But somehow we never had any trouble finding places to party though again to be fair I didn't go to a private school. I don't know what Wash U's enrollment is or what percentage of students there were Greek, but I still don't completely buy the argument that not being in a fraternity would have stunted your ability to cut loose on weekends.

At least where I went in VT the frats where the only ones that could afford a house to have a big party in. In the dorms anything more than 9-10 people was immediately busted by the RAs. I was in a frat, but it was anything but conformist, and I basically joined because the people that were I was befriended before joining.

When I transferred to UNM, I think we went to one frat party, it sucked balls.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 1:44 pm

Johnny Carwash wrote:For some reason during my senior year in high school I got deluged with recruiting materials from Wash U despite 1) never proactively reaching out to them, 2) not living near St. Louis, 3) probably not having the academic pedigree and 4) certainly not having the money to go there. Still strikes me as completely random and bizarre to this day.

You could be writing my posts for me in this thread. I got accepted into WashU law school without even applying. They even threw in a scholarship. I was really surprised when I looked it up that it is a good law school.

Completely had the same experience in a large state school. At the time they said 7% of the school was Greek (yet MTV chose my school to film a lame reality show about Greek Life). My Freshman roommate's brother was a senior, and he was in a fraternity. We hung out with them a bit, cool enough guys who didn't fit the frat stereotype at all. Both my roommates pledged, and were hurt that I didn't. They both quit during the pledge process because of the time commitment and not particularly liking their pledge class. They didn't even have much hazing.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:03 pm

How did you guys have enough money to just constantly hit the town in college? I preferred house parties.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:05 pm

Gunpowder wrote:How did you guys have enough money to just constantly hit the town in college? I preferred house parties.

Same here. Though bars in Mt. P during the week featured $1 pitchers and 32 oz $1 drafts at varying times so going to the bar could sometimes be even cheaper.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:10 pm

Def house parties for me. Except for 25 cent beer night.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 2:28 pm

Gunpowder wrote:How did you guys have enough money to just constantly hit the town in college? I preferred house parties.

There was a few college bars with dirt cheap specials. $1 Labatts or Molsons, $3 pitchers of Koch's Golden Anniversary, $3 growlers of Honey Brown, and best of all, $5 Friday happy hour, 5:00 - 8:00pm all you can drink well drinks. Friday was followed up by another all you can drink at another bar. Those were some ugly nights. It was a hell of a shock moving to Boston after that.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:21 pm

The Sybian wrote:
Gunpowder wrote:How did you guys have enough money to just constantly hit the town in college? I preferred house parties.
There was a few college bars with dirt cheap specials. $1 Labatts or Molsons, $3 pitchers of Koch's Golden Anniversary, $3 growlers of Honey Brown, and best of all, $5 Friday happy hour, 5:00 - 8:00pm all you can drink well drinks. Friday was followed up by another all you can drink at another bar. Those were some ugly nights. It was a hell of a shock moving to Boston after that.

What? Drink specials during Simpsons happy hour at Our House didn't do it for you?

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:29 pm

govmentchedda wrote:
The Sybian wrote:
Gunpowder wrote:How did you guys have enough money to just constantly hit the town in college? I preferred house parties.
There was a few college bars with dirt cheap specials. $1 Labatts or Molsons, $3 pitchers of Koch's Golden Anniversary, $3 growlers of Honey Brown, and best of all, $5 Friday happy hour, 5:00 - 8:00pm all you can drink well drinks. Friday was followed up by another all you can drink at another bar. Those were some ugly nights. It was a hell of a shock moving to Boston after that.
What? Drink specials during Simpsons happy hour at Our House didn't do it for you?

Man, I lived 2 blocks from there. Northeast Brew Pub if I stayed in the neighborhood. I'd be very surprised if we never crossed paths.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:35 pm

The Sybian wrote:I got accepted into WashU law school without even applying.

I'm just happy this happened to someone else (mine was an acceptance letter from tOSU's honors program when I never applied to the school).

Dollar 32 oz drafts on Tuesday, 2-for-1 anything on Thursday, progressive pitchers for Friday happy hour... We had a regular schedule for going out, based on best special that night, not including random specials like Split Day and crap like that.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:47 pm

The most pressure I've ever felt in my entire life is during those "Free Until Someone Pees" nights.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:52 pm

mister d wrote:The most pressure I've ever felt in my entire life is during those "Free Until Someone Pees" nights.

You don't want to invite me to one of those these days. Back in the day though I probably would have held my own. (Free or all-you-can-drink beer violates state law in Michigan. Hence the relative ubiquity of $1 pitchers or 10 cent draft beer nights at bars back when I was in school.)

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 3:59 pm

The Sybian wrote:
govmentchedda wrote:
The Sybian wrote:
Gunpowder wrote:How did you guys have enough money to just constantly hit the town in college? I preferred house parties.
There was a few college bars with dirt cheap specials. $1 Labatts or Molsons, $3 pitchers of Koch's Golden Anniversary, $3 growlers of Honey Brown, and best of all, $5 Friday happy hour, 5:00 - 8:00pm all you can drink well drinks. Friday was followed up by another all you can drink at another bar. Those were some ugly nights. It was a hell of a shock moving to Boston after that.
What? Drink specials during Simpsons happy hour at Our House didn't do it for you?
Man, I lived 2 blocks from there. Northeast Brew Pub if I stayed in the neighborhood. I'd be very surprised if we never crossed paths.

I lived on the Northeast Brew Pub side of Comm Ave. 1334, if my memory is accurate. They had tasty beers there.

Google maps shows that the Brew Pub is closed, and that there's a Starbucks just east of there.

P.D.X. · Post by **P.D.X.** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:09 pm

BFJ needs to post more Onion articles.

Rush2112 · Post by **Rush2112** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:28 pm

brian wrote:
Gunpowder wrote:How did you guys have enough money to just constantly hit the town in college? I preferred house parties.
Same here. Though bars in Mt. P during the week featured $1 pitchers and 32 oz $1 drafts at varying times so going to the bar could sometimes be even cheaper.

When I visited a friend at Ohio the bar we went to had pitchers of some jungle juice type stuff for a buck. I think they were actually amazed that we were of age.

What were kegs when you in college? in the early 90s I believe Busch/Bud was 35-50 a keg. Now cheap stuff runs 100$.

A_B · Post by **A_B** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:32 pm

65 for bud light. Less for the beast.

Post by **brian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 4:36 pm

Yeah, Bud Light for about 65 for a half barrel, Busch Light or the Beast for about $20 less. When we had a party, usually went with Bud Light because we liked to give off the impression of wealth (in our shitty, ratty house).

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Thu Aug 20, 2015 8:01 pm

govmentchedda wrote: Man, I lived 2 blocks from there. Northeast Brew Pub if I stayed in the neighborhood. I'd be very surprised if we never crossed paths.

I lived on the Northeast Brew Pub side of Comm Ave. 1334, if my memory is accurate. They had tasty beers there.

Google maps shows that the Brew Pub is closed, and that there's a Starbucks just east of there.[/quote]

OMFG! I was 1404 Comm Ave! Same side of the street, corner of Comm and Allston. If you ever heard or saw a car accident, it was on my corner. You must have been right by my liquor store. Jay, the manager at the time, is still in my law school fantasy football league. Not only was the beer tasty, but the food and the bartenders were too. Remember the two blond sisters with ridiculous bodies? I do.

MaxWebster · Post by **MaxWebster** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 10:28 pm

holy memories. my year living at 1999 Comm Ave was miserable - i hated living off-campus.

(also BC had no frats which i was more than happy about)

DC47 · Post by **DC47** » Sat Aug 22, 2015 11:01 pm

My exposure to the frat scene was far on the negative side (e.g., physical assaults of various kinds) at both an elite college and the University of Michigan. But I recognize that some greek houses were far better than others, and many of those who were affiliated were fine people.

The aspect of greek life that I object to most is structural. At too many places, greek houses enjoy preferred locations (e.g., close to academic buildings at a college with bitter winters) or better facilities (e.g., classic stone buildings with updated facilities versus crumbling quonset huts set up as temp housing during WWII) due to the actions of the school's senior administrators over many years. This is simply wrong on multiple levels. Creating an far from equal housing situation where the greek houses employ their own selection processes to determine housing 'winners' doesn't fit with any standard of equity that a college or university might claim to value.

In the few of these situations where I know the some of the details, it is universally due to a fear that well-connected greek alumni will damage university administrators' careers (e.g., eliminating promised donations) if they take any sudden action to reduce the privileged housing position of the greeks. Bending so far to this corrupting force is one of the most pathetic of the many pathetic things I have observed among senior administrators in higher education.

bfj · Post by **bfj** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 3:59 pm

P.D.X. wrote:BFJ needs to post more Onion articles.

Because they're funny or because idiots on my FB page believe them? Or both?

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:04 pm

MaxWebster wrote:holy memories. my year living at 1999 Comm Ave was miserable - i hated living off-campus.

(also BC had no frats which i was more than happy about)

I had a college friend who lives about a quarter mile east on Comm Ave after graduation. Spent a week there as a tourist in '98.

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:12 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:
MaxWebster wrote:holy memories. my year living at 1999 Comm Ave was miserable - i hated living off-campus.

(also BC had no frats which i was more than happy about)
I had a college friend who lives about a quarter mile east on Comm Ave after graduation. Spent a week there as a tourist in '98.

How many Swampers were within a quarter mile of each other on Comm Ave at one time? Though Cheddah was there a year later.

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 5:02 am

Yeah. I was there from August 2000 to May 2001.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 8:17 am

I visited friends there a bunch.

Jerloma · Post by **Jerloma** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 12:24 pm

These are just horrible people.

GoodKarma · Post by **GoodKarma** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 1:23 pm

My freshman year of college was 1992. I dont think banners like this would have been viewed as offensive at that time...I could be wrong, though. I'm actually impressed by the backlash, although I'm sure there are signs like this posted at more than a few colleges around the country.

Post by **Shirley** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 1:40 pm

Alright, those banners are pretty damn funny, but also incredibly inappropriate. It really is amazing that someone thought it would be cool to do that. And I have to figure that a bunch of dudes live in that house, so I assume they all tacitly (at least) approved. Sometimes it's amazing that people can be so ignorant as to what affect their actions will obviously have.

mister d · Post by **mister d** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 1:41 pm

You're assuming each frat member thinks for himself.