If You Aren’t Using Uber or Lyft on a Night Out, You’re an Idiot
It’s Friday night. Your primping routine has you looking like a show-stopper. The butts of your friends fill the seats of your old Corolla and the group heads to Old Town. Lauren is already guzzling shooters, it’s gonna be one of those nights with her again. Jeff chews a THC-infused gummy because he doesn’t like drinking that much. Juul smoke fills the car before you arrive, park, and get on with your night.
What’s wrong with this picture?
No, it’s not Lauren pregaming. Although a risky activity, I can respect loading up on cheaper drinks before you go out. No, it’s not Jeff and his edible, although he will probably be incoherent in an hour. And no, it’s not the Juul smoke, even though vaping is a dangerous habit that is the new cigarettes (“but it’s healthier” you say- it’s not-. We thought cigarettes were healthy at one point too).
The real problem is that you decided to drive. What are you going to limit yourself to two drinks and drive home? Really? It’s Friday night in Old Town, the peer pressure is real.
What you’re actually going to do is drive drunk and put other people in danger (or get a DUI, although that’s really not likely — the British Medical Journal says at the highest there’s just a .02% chance of getting a DUI), That, or you’re going to Uber/Lyft home and have to take a Uber/Lyft back in the morning, when you’re miserable, to grab your car.
Why would you not just Uber/Lyft down to Old Town?
It has all of the advantages. There’s a zero chance of a DUI. A professional makes sure you get home in one piece. Sure, Lauren may not be able to do her shooters in the car unless she’s a certified ninja (Jeff could take his edible in the car, but if he was timing things to reach his peak early on at the bars, he would have taken the edible before the Uber/Lyft got there), but really that’s the only disadvantage. Your car is safe and sound at home, and as somebody that works Saturday and Sunday mornings at a breakfast restaurant, that’s absolutely huge. Even if you don’t have stuff to do Saturday or Sunday morning, you have to get your hungover friend up to go get your car, which is never fun.
Uber/Lyft are even beneficial for the Police in Old Town. “At the end of the night, we have trouble getting people home… Uber and Lyft has been instrumental in getting people out (of Old Town),” said Sergeant Kyle Bendzsa of the Fort Collins Police Department (Sergeant Bendzsa runs the night shift from Wednesday to Sunday in Old Town). Sergeant Bendzsa also talked about how before Uber/Lyft, Fort Collins PD had tried to work with the government to get busses and vans to try and get people out. He seemed excited about how, “The free market came up with a solution for us.”
Going out is an incredibly fun activity, and some science suggests that those who go out are either happier and/or feel more close-knit with the community with which they party. That source also suggests that dancing and letting go with others leads to a synchronicity with those around you. It’s an ancient human activity, communicating and harmonizing with each other through nonverbal body movements. College students usually take 15 credit hours (the standard course load), usually have an equivalent amount of homework per week, sometimes work 10–20 hours a week, and that’s not even counting any extracurriculars that the students may participate in.
So that’s exactly why Jeff, Lauren and yourself wanted to go out partying. Everybody needed to de-stress and let go with their friends or those in the community, or both of those groups. I’m just suggesting that everybody can make their life a little easier, by Uber/Lyft-ing down to the bars and Uber/Lyft-ing back. It ensures that everybody has a safe, responsible time, while also allowing you to maybe take some of the responsibility away from yourself. Go ahead and pregame with Lauren before the Uber/Lyft shows up!
