Logan's Fun

Pick up any celebrity magazine and they'll be a cover shot of a celebrity looking pensive with the caption - " Since turning 30 it's time to grow up." Now I wasn't aware there was an age when you had to grow up, in fact I'm fairly sure it just happens. You don't hit 15 and go - " it's time for my balls to drop" or at 50 - " right it's time to get fat" so why is 30 so significant? Part of it is I believe due to this compartmentalised and pigeon holed society which orders you to do things by a certain age and yet they never give a date by which time you should become a decent human being. I was talking to someone recently and we were talking about plans for the weekend and I explained that I was probably going to hit the town on Saturday night , " What about you?" I enquired,  " Oh God! I don't go out these days, I'm way beyond that." Way beyond what? Having fun? Generally enjoying oneself away from the drudgery of every day life?  I wasn't for a minute suggesting she anadon all her principles and have a one night stand (although granted she was attractive and probably wouldn't fail in that department) so why this fulsome reaction? Stating that you are beyond going on a night out is like saying you're beyond sleeping or walking in a straight line. I can fully understand someone who says they can't be bothered with nights out as in the last few years nights out have had  a tendancy to be very samey and in truth they prefer to stay at home with their partner and kids, but when did going out become a phase rather than a part of everyday living ? The implication is that if you're still drinking at 30 then you're stuck in the dark ages. You could argue that being in the dark ages is more fun and it's society that needs to get on the bus to enlightenment,  not you. The worst part of the opening statment is the notion that people who enjoy nights out beyond 30 are somehow immature, that they don't exude the same level of responsibility as the stay at home adults. But how do you measure maturity? Whether they pay their mortgage on time or remember to pick their kids up from school? At least with cheese you can stick your finger in it. Can one not be a responsible citizen and still get rat arsed in the process?  I would argue that having the freedom to escape life for a few hours actually galvanises individuals in action. Carrying out those actions beyond walking home singing Maggie May eating a deep pan Hawaian might be awkward but at least the intent is there. Would you get the same motivation to write a song or a sonnet watching the Vicar of Dibley? I doubt it.
Granted drinking has it's casualties but it's arguable that if it wasn't drink it would be something else and if they are of the mind to run away from their responsibilities then they will irrespective of the catalyst. Some of the smartest brains on the planet have been drinkers, as God hater and all round wit Christopher Hitchens once said- " I drink because I don't want to be boring." Or words to that effect. Some people deserve to be boring, when you're spending an hour in TK Maxx looking for a pink frying pan to go with your pink toaster you know that fun dosen't really figure on their radar.  But just because you party  that dosen't make you any less of a bore, bizarrely i've met people who become even more boring the more they drink. Me included. Conversely I've also met people who never go out because they simply don't like it and they are some of the most entertaining people I've ever met, the difference is that they  base their actions on a personal preference rather than because they are not 19 any more. So until you can find a reason better than because you've got a stack of washing and ironing to do because that's what adults do, then don't. After all you never see Jack Nicholson with an iron.