The other day I picked up my cap and gown for graduation. It’s a surreal feeling; graduating college, the possibility of never seeing friends from here again, the idea of never partying here again, the fact that I will no longer be able to sleep till noon on a daily basis, the list goes on and on. I was chilling outside today staring at my black tassel with the golden 2011 shining back at me in the rare Albany sunlight. I started reminiscing in my mind about the past four years here, and all the good/sloppy times I’ve had most of which I have shared, and plan to share in this blog. I also started thinking about all the firsts I experienced during my four year tenure here at SUNY Albany. The first day I moved on to Montauk 3rd floor, the first time I shot-gunned a beer, the first class I went to, the first girl I fucked, just nonstop random memories of firsts flying through my mind at a rapid pace. One first that I would like to share was the first time I went to arguably my favorite Albany bar…Chubbys.
I’ve written about Chubbys before in my post “The Human Fire Hose” so for those of you who aren’t familiar with this bar I suggest reading that story first, (and because it’s fucking awesome). The first time I went to Chubbys was in the beginning of the fall semester freshman year. The original crew heading out that night, (from what I can recall) was Burgundy, Blanka, Harry, Turtle, Slayer, and me. We all had our chalked IDs and were waiting anxiously on line outside of the bar to see if they would work. The only two members of our crew who couldn’t get in was Blanka, because he was too much of a pussy to chalk his paper Brazilian ID card, and Harry who was using his brothers expired license. I don’t know why we went in without them but they both didn’t really care. We weren’t that tight with Blanka at the time, so he just nonchalantly caught the bus back home without saying a word. Harry just went to a party at his friend’s place downtown.
Anyways, the four of us who made it in were fucking pumped. I had never been to a bar before, and seeing the inside of Chubbys for the first time was mesmerizing. Red vine lights hung from the ceiling, there was a jukebox next to the bar playing what I considered to be the theme song of my freshmen year, Good Life by Kanye, I couldn’t see the fucking floor which was covered in booze and filth, and of course there were tons and tons of beautiful drunk girls everywhere you looked. Chubbys had a backyard too which gave the bar a house party like feel to it. In the backyard were two beer pong tables, tall wooden fences to chill against, and plenty of space to move around. It was the beginning of the year, the weather had yet to become arctic like, so the backyard was just as packed as the inside of the bar.
We started out buying rounds of Keystone/Busch pitchers and were just trying to get a grip on our surroundings. The place was popping, music was blasting, the booze was flowing, and wasted chicks were just making out with each other left and right, it was one hell of an introduction to the Albany night life. After we all bought one round each, we decided to just get our own drinks because of how much of a bitch it was getting to the bar. I love and miss Chubbys but whenever it was packed up the ass like that night, getting a drink is a fucking hassle. I believe this is the reason I blacked out that night, and therefore cannot recall most of that night, plus it was a long ass time ago, I mean shit I was only 17 then.
I don’t remember where everyone went and I don’t remember who I spent the majority of the night with. After the initial entrance and first couple of drinks, the rest of the night is a blur, or blank. What I do remember was waking up by myself at like 5 am on a bench at the bus stop on campus. I remember smelling and seeing a giant pile of what I correctly assumed to be my puke on the ground below me. I remember going out of my fucking mind trying to figure out what the hell happened. I remember stumbling back to Montauk, trying to open the bathroom door, failing to do so, and promptly yacking all over the hallway floor. I was a fucking train wreck that night and it was a great foreshadow of things to come over the next four years. I finally get to my room, hop up on my bed and pass the fuck out.
The next morning I had a killer fucking hangover, friend requests and messages on Facebook from random people I apparently was drinking with the night before, an overwhelming feeling of shame when I saw the remains of my vomit in the hallway, and a laundry list of questions for my friends. The only thing I was able to discover was what happened to everybody else, Turtle went to a frat he would later pledge for, Slayer claimed that he went back with the girl he was hooking up with that night, and Burgundy just went home with other friends of his. I know this wasn’t the most epic story but it feels damn good to reminisce about the past, especially with graduation just around the corner. It was thanks to nights like my first night at Chubbys, why I feel that my time at college went so fast. But you know what, it’s like I always say though; if it feels like it went fast that means you enjoyed it right.
