Getting older, and The South

I spent the last two weekends at bachelor parties. Nothing tests your age quite like a bachelor party -- drinking is an almost non-stop occurence, and while both weekends included some mandatory nap time, pretty much the entire time is spent on the go.

The first weekend was in New Orleans for Rob's bachelor party, and while it was Sweaty Weather, it was a blast. Great golf (shot a 91, can't be unhappy with that - though I'd love to get to a point where that score did bother me!) and more importantly a great weekend with the boys. But four days was simply too much. Even though we took it relatively easy Thursday night, that still meant drinking from 5:00 until maybe 1:00 or 2:00 a.m., and that catches up with me now. Saturday night, when we were supposed to let our freak flags fly, I was stone cold sober by the time we got back to the hotel. I just couldn't take it anymore.

Part of this was that I had just gotten over The Cold That Would Not Die, and this was preventitive action.

Or so I thought. For when I got home, the Cough was back. With a vengeance.

So, as I headed up to Portland for Lang's bach, I told myself I would take it easy. No smoking and only mild drinking. Well, that didn't quite work, but I did monitor myself pretty well. (Enough that Lang's step-brother Lauren, a story unto himself, chided me for 'not having a good time' - translation: not drinking enough. Once I assured him that I really was a proud fraternity brother, he seemed to go elsewhere. Or else something shiny distracted him.)

I got a lot of good-natured ribbing from the boys in Nawlinz about how we'd all be back there for MY bachelor party next year. And even if everything with Ab works out, I don't think New Orleans is the place for me. First of all, I hate the fucking South. The weather is intolerable, the politics are reprehensible and racism is brushed away by talk of "southern tradition." If I see one more goddamn Confederate flag and have a white guy tell me its no big deal, I swear I'll blow. It's exactly the same thing as if Germans wanted to fly a Swastika flag. EXACTLY. That's intolerable (thank god), so why isn't the Confederate flag stigmatized? For one reason only - it lets Southern white people feel comfortable with their racism. That's it.

For a better write up, the all-time post is Fuck The South - brilliant. Sheer brilliance.