In the states, 21 years is the "golden age". Yes - the golden age where you can legally purchase alcohol if you drink. Many minors participate in underage drinking by begging those of age to purchase it for them, or getting using IDs to get into bars and purchase alcohol at stores. 

Me? Oh, never! How could I participate in such behavior?

Regardless of my past, the day in which my driver's license turns into a golden ticket to adulthood is fast-approaching. Naturally, I have many fantasy-like expectations of the night. I expect a delicious meal by the ocean in Marblehead, maybe lobster paired with a Cape Codder as my first legal drink, with my mother and a few close friends. Then, I buy a bottle of something easy to take shots of, maybe Fireball, to pregame, and bar hop around Salem with the girls trying local IPAs and getting in good with the bartenders. We'll be laughing all the way home in the Uber reliving the awesome night, and I'll go to work the next morning gabbing about all the fun I had.

I know it all won't go as planned like that, though. This is real life, not a glorified Sex and the City highlight reel.  

Group of friends expectation

Group of friends reality

Dinner expectation

Dinner reality

Pre-gaming expectation

Pre-gaming reality

Ubering downtown expectation

Ubering downtown reality

Making drunk friends expectation

Making drunk friends reality

Getting back safely expectation

Getting back safely reality

Work the next day expectation

Work the next day reality