Pregaming: a sacred word to many and a joy to hear from friends. But this act of drinking as much as you can before going out leads to one of my least favorite things. For some reason, students–beside my friends and myself–just can’t seem to finish their last beer or Solo cup before heading out the door. This leads to the countless number of empty Natty Ices or red cups I see on my lawn and all down the street. The reason this upsets me is because really it’s just a result of carelessness.
So let’s break this down. These party-goers were obviously drinking, and quickly, so they were already a little buzzed, which impairs their decision making. Second, the group they are with must have either decided that it wants to leave, right now, and you’re either coming or you’re not.
Photo Illustration by: emily fedorko / photo editor
This seems really unfair but at the same time, who isn’t comfortable telling friends that they want to finish a beer? If my friends and I are drinking before going out, we all wait until everyone is done before we start to pack up. That’s just what we do.
If this situation doesn’t sound like something that would happen to you, then maybe you were pregaming too hard, became too intoxicated and insisted you are cool enough to walk down the street with a Bud Light in hand.
I mean you can always just put it on the sidewalk when you’re done right? Sadly though, no one’s coming to pick that up, not even you when you go by it the next morning. I remember knowing people freshman and sophomore years who for no reason insisted that just leaving a beer on the street is a legitimate explanation for not having enough time to finish it.
How come the mentality is, “just walk with it,” when it could be, “just finish it, then we can go”? All you’re doing is severely increasing your chances of catching the eye of KPD, who honestly have better things to do then take the time to ticket or arrest you for open container and underage drinking.
But what the biggest problem is with this issue, for me, is that your beer cans and cups, unless they’re on my lawn, will sit in the gutter for weeks, as I have seen, because no one is willing to pick them up and take care of them.
It’s up to students to finish their drinks at home and dispose of them there. Just because Waste Management works hard to pick up all the crap students leave outside of their houses, it does not mean they are going to pick up the scattered beer bottles on the nearby ground. If you don’t pick up your trash, do you really think someone is going to want to pick up yours?
Some may think I’m speaking too harshly for the few cans we see scattered around. But think about how a couple bottles and a paper plate look on a well-kept lawn?
They stand out, and if someone just cared a little more to get rid of it themselves, the town could look nicer and our lawns would be grateful. And students don’t always leave their beer cans on the sidewalk. They also will throw them into other people’s yards or leave them in the street.
Your neighbors would have more respect for you if they knew you were not littering. Believe me people notice that stuff right away. Think about how your parents act when they see a piece of trash in their lawn. Yeah, they get tiffed, to say the least.
The point here is that it’s rude to litter, especially on someone else’s property, and it would help make our city cleaner as well as gain more respect from the Keene residents around us if we are more careful. Because let’s be honest, your neighbors know it’s not the mom and pop down the street who are walking with their beers late at night and dropping them wherever, it’s students.
It’s Keene State College students who love to party. Well there is plenty more to us students than our weekend habits, so let’s show everyone that. Next time you’re walking down Water St. with some snacks from Cumbie’s, or are leaving Grove St. to go to a party, just think about what you’re doing. All it takes is a little more respect to understand how inconsiderate it is to throw away your Ramunto’s plate on somebody’s lawn.
Lindsey Arceci can be contacted at larceci@keene-equinox.com