Tuesday, March 2, 2010

"Take it Easy, Chico'


Sunday Morning: 11:30am

My eyes flutter open … reluctantly.

There is an immediate and insistent pounding in my skull, and a sour taste in my mouth.

Hung. Over. Ugh.

I have to hand it to myself. Judging, by my PJ’s, I seemed fairly confident last night that I would make my early morning yoga class, and decided to save time by sleeping in my gym clothes. Too bad I forgot to wash my face (the trail of mascara on my pillow tells me that the previous night’s smoky eye has gone awry), and take out my hoop earrings. Oh, my bad. I remembered to take out the left one. Hot.

As I sit up and begin to stretch, I become aware of the blinking item clutched in my left hand.
It’s my cell phone – and I have a text message

Sunday February 28th at 10:54am
“FYI: I don’t feel good and I am awake.”

Instant relief!
This text comes to me courtesy of my best friend who is in the other room (and probably in an equally terrible outfit and streaky face), and not from my current crush saying something like: “Please stop texting me… forever”

As a dreamy image of him pops into my head, my feelings of relief dissipate and are placed with feelings of dread.

Did I?

I nervously scroll down into my sent mail. And there it is. The Drunk Text.
Sent: 3:25am
Recipient: Current Crush
Message: “Would also like to point out that I can spell APPARENTLY and I feel good about it. Take it easy chico

I want to die.....Chico? No. I deserve to die. I don’t even bother looking at the prior text message I sent which obviously questioned my spelling of apparently. It’s too shameful.

Why is it that with every Dirty Martini I sling back on a Saturday night, my need to exercise my fingers while putting my reputation at risk intensifies?

Miss Munch summed it up perfectly in her blog entry. It’s all about that moment. The moment where all of a sudden your feelings of love / lust / anger / joy transform themselves into a sudden burst of creative energy which results in something brilliant like: “Take it easy chico.” It is in that moment while hearing your favourite song, or seeing an unattractive couple make out – that your true feelings emerge and you are compelled to share these emotions with the most important (and sometimes random) person your pathetic polluted self can drudge up.

Personally, I think it’s kind of flattering and endearing. And like Miss Munch, I love receiving drunk texts. (Drunk Dials? Heaven) Really, could anything be more validating than being the one person that someone is thinking about while they only have aprox 3 working brain cells? Come on!!!

I know for a fact that my personal drunken texts come from a place of honesty- and for the most part (though not on my birthday or any sort of “tequila” night) have some kind of meaning.
For example, I’m not being a fake and a phony by texting my ex something like: “I just have to thank you for being such a jerk and teaching me about myself. I hope your penis doesn’t fall off and you don’t go bald” Those would be malicious lies.

Instead, I channel my drunk texts into positive messages of love to my girlfriends (like the Saturday night convo Miss Munch has outlined below), or words of encouragement like “Take it Easy Chico”, to the guy I desperately want to lock down.
Is this so bad?

The answer is yes and no.
Yes, because it makes me look like a drunken asshole and probably does not aid in my quest to lockdown Mc Dreamy
No, because my friends know I am a drunken asshole and they love me anyways and hopefully after reading this, realize that if you receive a drunk text from me, it probably means I think pretty damn highly of you.

I know you are all dying to know if crush responded to my drunk text, and the answer is no.
I will admit to biting my nails for half the day until he called me that evening and we chatted with no mention of my embarrassing late night endeavors.

See? No harm done. Maybe he found it endearing. Maybe he found it cute? (doubtful)

This does not however, excuse what I have done, and I will do my best not to make texting the object of my affection (until he realizes he’s madly in love with me) a habit.

Instead, I plan to direct all drunken texts / emails/ phone calls to Miss Munch a Lot who “is my fave” and “makes my life a better one
….. And whom I know will accept me for my drunken self with open arms, and respond with equally inebriated enthusiasm.

You don't text at 3am to start a relationship.

  I love planning things. I take pride in my ability to organize and scheme, write to-do lists and follow through on them. I crave order, and enjoy seeing a well developed plan come to fruition. But…I also LOVE drunk texts. The act of drunk texting should contradict my love for preparation, but instead, it brings joy to my OCD heart. Although I do very much prefer being on the receiving end.

There is something amazing about the random instance of inebriation that stimulates a creative spurt that makes for a sometimes hilarious, usually rude awakening the next morning. Checking your history from the night before usually requires a few deep breaths.

Rewind to the night before. The moment you press send, you have done something irreversible: told a dark secret, ratted out a friend, admitted a deep burning truth, announced a sexual fantasy, led someone on, bitched someone out, cock teased a crush, delivered an undecipherable string of words (which is your best case scenario)—basically ruined your reputation in some blush-worthy way.

The good news is, most people are so used to receiving drunk texts that they don’t read too much into them. ..or that’s what we tell ourselves. It isn't true. We have all spent countless Saturday and Sunday mornings communally deciphering the meaning of texts sent by mangled slurring textjaculators (copyright VW) the night before. This usually makes me feel like I am right back in English class, looking for a deeper meaning, a hidden metaphor or example of imagery. There are usually lots. This is probably the most practical application of my English Degree. Thank you Queen’s. Too bad that when considering texts from the opposite sex, there generally isn't much to "get"--most late night texts are booty calls. Sorry to break your bub, but you don't contact the opposite sex at 3am to start a relationship.

As a respectable married woman who admittedly still lives my life in somewhat of an undergrad fashion (excessive drinking and partying), I have somehow trained my inebriated self to limit my drunk texts to proclamations of love for my girlfriends. Saturday night is a perfect example: I was sitting in a bar, enjoying the live band, when a familiar tune started playing. SANTERIA by SUBLIME. I reach for my phone, to text SWF, the very person I used to lip sync or more commonly scream along to this song with back in undergrad. BUZZZZZZZ. I couldn’t believe my cross eyes.

It was SWF, beating me to the punch. Sometimes, drunk texts appear to be little miracles. Coincidences are always more fun after a few dirty martinis.

The exchange went a little something like this:

SWF: “Love you like it’s going out of style. For real”.
MMA: “Hey SWF, you texted me as the band started playing Santeria. Love!’
SWF: “you are my fave”
MMA: “You are my love of life”
SWF: “you make my life a better one”

It then degenerated to some dirty and weird exchange that is not suitable for the average reader’s eyes, even those who are not faint of heart.But, because the site Texts from last night exists, I will share some gems I came across instead of tainting our reputation. Reading them makes me feel a lot better about myself.They help me confirm my own normalcy as I scoff hypocritically at these ‘drunken fools’. Here’s hoping my texts (or yours) will never compare to these:

(312): I slept with some guy because he drew a dinosaur on my arm.




(858): I drank 13 shots. Which is unlucky. Which is why i threw up.

-you threw up because you drank 13 SHOTS.

(330): Just ate cheeseit crumbs off the floor. i feel like Kirstie Alley.


(339): i don't remember it, but i know we had sex because my stuffed animals were facing the wall.


(317): she literally pooped in the closet. i sent the picture to everyone i know.

(720): I just found glitter on my vibrator... whatever we're doing has to stop.

(936): you went around the entire night in your french maid costume dusting off the "cob webs" on everyone's crotch saying "you havent gotten any action in a while"

-I was wondering why i got so many friend requests the next day...

Ok maybe that last one could have been me, but it wasn’t.

My French Maid costume is missing though…