Netflix Please: The 9 Stages of Going Out When You Want to Stay In

You don’t know how it happened, but you got dragged out… again. You tried to come up with multiple excuses to stay home, but none of them worked. You probably got guilt tripped into going for someone’s birthday, or being called lame, or my favorite line: “you never come out anymore!” So, here you are again on a Friday night, at a pre game party that you probably don’t want to be at, with full knowledge of the money you’ll be spending in the next four hours when you could have been at home binge-watching Netflix.

Here are the 9 stages that one goes through when they get dragged to go out against their will:

1. Denial.
   You’ll probably spend the time you could have been getting ready coming up with excuses to stay home or justifications to why you’re allowed to be missing someone’s birthday.
2. Acceptance.
   It’s official – you have given up trying to get out of it, and you’re in it for the long haul. You’re off your bed, and reluctantly getting ready, AND your friends say that they have alcohol for you, so you have to go now.
3. Regrets.
   You’re finally ready, and your friends are on the way. You’re putting on your shoes and regret fills you. Why did I decide to go? Is it too late to back out? Why? Can I be DD so I can leave whenever? Or I could just stay home? Sigh. Your present-self is definitely hating your past-self at the moment. It’s too late now; your friends are here and there’s no backing out now.
4. Where is the alcohol?
   You’re annoyed as soon as you walk into the door, and you already want to leave. Everyone is at a level 10, and you’re barely at level 1. You realize you’re stuck and it’s time to bring out the big guns – where’s the tequila?
5. Can I just stay at the pre-party?
   Admit it, getting ready and pre-parties are always more fun than the actual bars… most of the time. This feeling is heightened when you don’t want to go out in the first place. Like, I can just let everyone get on the party bus and be conveniently forgotten, right?
6. That $10 cover though…
   Your friends found you hiding in the bathroom and dragged you onto the party bus. There’s no escaping it now – that cab from the bars is too expensive for you to take alone, your designated driver isn’t picking everyone up until 2, and you’re already on this bus. Since you didn’t even want to go out in the first place, your drunken level is still not as high as the others.
7. HALLELUJAH, YOUR FRIENDS ARE READY!
   Ok, admit it – you had a decent night. You would have rather stayed home but you have to admit; you had a good time with your friends. As soon as your friends said they were ready though, you internally screamed with joy. Just because you’re having a good time doesn’t mean you want to stay any longer.
8. FOOD, FOOD, FOOD.
   This is your saving grace. That 2 am run for food is the only thing you were looking forward to from the time you were getting ready, to the time when your friends said they were ready to go. The best part is when your friends say that you can pick because you didn’t want to go out in the first place. The food almost makes going out worth all the hassle.
   
   
9. Sleep.
   As soon as you walked in through that door, and took off those flats (let’s be honest – you already didn’t want to go out, there was no way you were wearing heels) and washed that make up off, you were ready for bed. That bed was calling for you, and curling up in bed with the intention to sleep in is just the best.
   

We’ve all been there, and sometimes – we have to suck it up and go out with everyone, especially if it’s their birthday. Those guilt-trips will be the death of you, and I mean, it’s probably better if you’re there than for you to hear about it the day after. Nobody likes the after-FOMO. In the end, any time spent with your friends can’t be too bad, right?

Featured image via Pixabay on Pexels