Back in 2010, Bill Simmons from ESPN had an article that relayed a story about Worldwide Wes and an unnamed NBA player. For those that don't know, Worldwide Wes is a power broker type in the NBA and has relationships with a lot of the top players. Anyway, the story goes that Wes and said player were outside the club at 2:45 am when the player wanted to find "the next place". Wes proceeded to give the following advice: "You can't chase the night. When the night is over, it's over. You just gotta wake up tomorrow and hope for a better day."
I have come to rank this among "don't eat yellow snow" as some of the most sage advice ever given. If I had this advice in my late teens and early twenties, there would be a lot fewer cases of "I can't believe I did that", "Man, that sucked", and "I should have just stayed home" in my memory file.
In my opinion, the quest for the ultimate night is much more likely to end in disappointment than satisfaction. Think about the nights where the going was good - did it ever seem forced? Now think about the nights where it started out okay and you thought a change of venue would kick it into the next gear. How did that work out for you? My guess would be it devolved into one of the following categories:
1) "Man, I spent way too much money last night." Do you ever feel regret about this when you had an awesome time? My guess is yes, but you don't START the conversation that way. If someone asks you how your night was, and these words come out of your mouth, you chased the night and it got away.
2) "Me and Person X got into a big fight." This is a classic chase the night phenomenon. What happens is you are concentrating too much on the person next to you because the night sucks. Mixing booze with irritation is a great way to ruin any experience. Usually, it manifests itself to picking fights with friends or total strangers. Either is a bad option and would have never happened if you had realized the night was over when it was over.
3) "The next morning life re-evaluation." The night really got away from you when this occurs. If it is Sunday, you are sitting in bed, and all you can think is "what is wrong with me... I really need to make some changes", chances are the night wasn't an overly fun experience. This could result from your choice of the #1 and #2 combo meal where you fought your friend and spent this month's rent. Also, there are other reasons for the life evaluation - the night never got going at all, your friends bothered the hell out of you, and you feel that playing Solitaire Jenga and picking belly lint would have been a more fun evening. That is a life re-evaluation type night. The bad news is these nights are a wicked bummer. The good news is that these nights tend to happen to us all once in a while. They aren't a reflection on your poor character, just the culmination of a lot of bad choices while searching out that terrific time that you know is out there. However, if life re-evaluation is a fixture of your weekends, chances are a little change of behavior may be in order.
I like to think I have learned a little in my formative years. Last night was a good example. I was out with friends having a good time, but the venue was, shall we say, lacking. Now, last night being Cinco de Mayo, knowing me means knowing that I don't like the type of crowds that go out for that type of event. What old me would have done was chase the night to the next locale and fought through the same issues as our current spot. This was setting up to be a classic #1. New me made a conscious decision to realize that the night for me was over and I will just wake up tomorrow and hope for a better day. The better day meant an uncloudy head, comfortable stomach, and quality time with my little girl. I didn't chase and it turned out great.
Now, this is when the old me rears his ugly head by telling me "yeah, but how do you know you didn't MISS THE BEST TIME EVER???" That is what chasing the night has on its side - the unknown. Ignore that devil on your shoulder. The best times don't come with those types of decisions. They evolve naturally. Just like most things - don't over think it and don't force it. If it happens it happens. When they do, you get a great story. When they don't, well... there's always another chance next weekend.
JB3
No comments:
Post a Comment