Which one am I? Should I just jump head first into a debauchorous night or not? To pursue “fun” and enjoyment with an endless array of drinks? To hang out and talk about how “different” it is here compared to everywhere else? To observe that I’ve been legal longer than some of the patrons have been around. 

  
My colleague and I left at the end of our shift and his friends were waiting outside. We just finished the first of our weekend shifts. It was a long thirteen hours. The night didn’t go as smoothly as planned. At least for me. There were a few clients there that were not as cooperative as they should have been. This is the start of the kind of days that I’ll be having here. This is how the weekends working here will look like. 

  
His friends were kind of dressed up. They were supposed to be out celebrating and dancing the night away. They were kind of glum and not really knowing where to go. We were going to go to a pub. That’s the only place that would potentially let someone wearing flip flops in. He didn’t know that they would be out here. Good thing he changed out of the scrubs. 

  
I told them that I could get them in somewhere. My old haunt that is now a new establishment having been revamped and remodeled. My old friends manned the door so that they could sneak some people in. The place was kind of packed. The dance floor responding to the DJ’s choices. The full experience was on as we waited for drinks. One of the girls had her birthday on the same day as me. It was that which prompted me to go the extra mile. Yet another person I’ve encountered who was born on the same day as me. There have been many throughout my life. 

  
The drinks were going down really well. In the back of my mind however that little voice said that this is unsustainable. It’s day number three in a row going out. This was supposed to be my day to finally get some sleep. Dancing on the dance floor the rhythm had me the colors and the lights mesmerizing. An old familiar face still looked pretty behind the bar. She encouraged me to go further into the “bad” side. Let it all go and be irresponsible she said. How old are you now? 

  
I remember her from back in the day. We reintroduced ourselves again and the names were remembered as soon as they were said. She came out of retirement to moonlight behind the bar for a bit. She couldn’t believe it but had some fun doing it. Not tonight babe I thought as I danced late. I’m irresponsible to a point but not stupid. Now that I know I will find you again. I come around and talk with my friends as often as I can. I had a thought that I’d see them tonight anyways. Tomorrow is another long day and being tired and hungover is not a professional way to be especially in the line of work that I do. The DJ lost the magic at some point. It’s what brought these thoughts up. He had it going but made a poor choice somewhere. It wasn’t just me but others filtered off the dance floor too. As I made it home I thought about just letting go and staying out all night. I basically did just that but I left just at the right time. There will be other nights. I’m not just irresponsible but responsible too.