Have you ever attended a party only to wake up the next morning not in your own bed and dreading the inevitable Facebook pictures which will remind you of all the bad decisions you made the previous night? Yep, we’ve all been there.
When in college, you may find yourself in many situations where you really wish you hadn’t drank that last shot, kissed that guy/girl, or danced on that stripper pole, but once it’s done, you can’t take it back. The only remedy to poor life decisions is a little thing called damage control.
No matter how bad the situation, you can almost always attempt to remedy it in some fashion; we’ll get to the bottom of all your poor life choices and how to fix each one, even after the fact.
1. You Hooked Up With Your Friends’ Ex.
Drinking makes us do a lot of bad things. Sometimes you remember doing them, other times you don’t. The good news is, everyone can sympathize with doing dumb sh*t when drunk, even if they don’t want to admit it at the time.
If you drank too much and got a little too “comfortable” with your friends’ ex, this is a problem for sure, but not an unfixable one.
While it is entirely possible for both of you to decide to keep it a secret and to never tell, the fact of the matter is, this is college, and there is almost always someone who knows your business and will repeat that business to the very person you are trying to hide it from.
The best option is to choose honesty and to ‘fess up to your friend. You can’t hide this type of thing from someone you care about; just explain yourself as best as you can, blame the alcohol, and beg for forgiveness.
2. You Flashed Someone (or a large group of people).
Hopefully it’s not on video or captured on camera, but assuming it is not, you can still recover from this.
Wherever the flashing occured, I would NOT recommend going back (whether that is a house party, bar, grocery store, wherever). If you tempt fate, you are simply ASKING for someone who remembers what happened to tap you on the shoulder and remind you of your indecent exposure.
Avoid the people you flashed as well. If you don’t show your face, the sooner everyone will forget about it and the sooner you can move on.
3. You Cheated on Your Significant Other.
There is nothing worse than going out for a night of drinking and waking up with that sinking feeling in your stomach like you did something terribly wrong; then you turn over and see exactly why you feel this way and the freakout begins. Actually, I think it’s worse when you convince yourself it was a dream only to wake up and realize it actually happened; yikes.
You can try to hide it, but it will only cause you more stress to be in a state of constant paranoia that your partner will find out. I would tell your significant other what happened, try to explain that things got out of hand, but that it will never happen again. Hopefully he/she forgives you; if not, you know better for next time.
4. You Acted Like an Idiot and It’s on Video.
As long as you weren’t naked or doing something REALLY inappropriate, this isn’t THAT bad.
If you know the people who took the video, politely ask them to delete it, take it off Facebook, or to at the very least, keep it to themselves. Explain that you were wasted and you don’t want your parents, friends, or employers to see the video as it could be potentially harmful.
If you don’t know who took the video, but you know it’s floating around on someones’ camera somewhere, there isn’t too much you can do about it. Do a little investigative work and see if you can find the person who took the video, but typically, you won’t be able to find him/her.
Chalk it up as a loss if you can’t find the vid; I guarantee you the person who took the video will find something more outrageous or funnier the next weekend to tape over your drunk chicken dance (or whatever).
5. You Acted Like a Drunk Idiot In Front of Your Crush.
This is not the worst thing in the world; yes, you acted sloppy or drunk in front of someone you like, but so what?
If your crush dismisses you because you tripped and fell at a party or said some crazy stuff while playing beer pong, then they aren’t worth your time.
Unless you acted so bad that even YOU would understand why he/she wouldn’t want to be around you any more, then you shouldn’t worry too much about this. Everyone, even your crush, has gotten drunk and said/done dumb things; it’s part of being in college and it’s part of life. If he/she can’t understand that, then don’t waste your time trying to convince them otherwise.
6. You Had a Drunk Conversation with Someone From Class.
How many times have you been out at a party and all of a sudden you get a tap on the shoulder and it’s the leader of your group project, someone in your class you study with, or worst case scenario, it’s your TA!
This is bad because you are embarrassed; you are normally so composed when you see this person and you can’t believe you acted like such an idiot or said those dumb things to someone who probably respected you from class.
The thing to realize here is that the person from class is also a human; he or she was at the party not to judge you, but to have fun. Make a joke out of it when you see him/her in class, explaining that you were blowing off steam after a long week of work and you don’t usually get that drunk.
7. Drunk Texting Gone Awry.
Everyone knows how damaging drunk texting can be. Whether you send a bunch of gibberish to your parents, boss, friends, or whoever, drunk texting is embarrassing and it’s not like a conversation where you can pretend like it didn’t happen; it’s text, on a phone, that everyone can see.
The best way to avoid drunk texting is to leave your phone at home, but if you have already sent the nonsense text, you need to fix it. If you sent out an inappropriate text, said something you didn’t mean to say, or just plain gibberish, you should always call the next day to say you are sorry for whatever you said and to try and explain yourself.
You don’t need to go into details, but explain that you were drunk and you were a bit out of hand. If worse comes to worse, claim your phone was stolen and the ruffian who swiped it was the one saying all of those terrible things!
8. You Hooked Up With Someone and It Was a Huge Mistake
It’s never a good feeling to wake up feeling used or feeling like you used someone else. If you hooked up with someone and you didn’t really want to do it or you did it only because you were drunk, you need to remove yourself from the situation fast.
If you hooked up with someone who you know likes you, but you don’t like back, you need to be honest with them or you will NEVER get rid of them. Explain right OFF THE BAT that you are not looking for anything serious, you’re sorry about the hookup but you were drunk, and leave it at that. Don’t answer texts, calls, emails, etc.
If you hooked up with someone you like, but doesn’t like you back, again, remove yourself from the situation asap. If you continue to hookup with him/her, it will only deepen your feelings for this person and you will become attached to someone who does not care about you.
Leave your phone at home, resist the urge to drunk text/be a bootycall, and move on!
9. You Freaked Out On Your Friend/Partner.
We’ve all been there. Whether you flipped out on your friend or screamed at your boy/girlfriend, it happens to everyone at least once. When you drink heavily, you tend to easily lose control of your emotions and your mouth starts to run.
You feel more confident and your inhibitions are lowered; suddenly, all of the things that were bothering you about your partner or friend have risen to the surface and you explode on one of them.
The important thing is to recognize how to fix it the morning after. When your hangover wears off, make sure to meet up with the person you hurt and tell them in person how sorry you are for everything that you said.
10. You Cried In Front of People.
Whether you are a guy or girl, this is pretty embarrassing, Obviously, girls cry all the time at parties, but it doesn’t make it any less embarrassing when it’s you who is crying.
Whether you welled up or had a sob-fest, the best thing to do is make a joke of it. Apologize for being stupid, but it’s okay to laugh it off. Make a visit to the house or friends you cried in front of, explain you NEVER cry in public, and then have a good laugh about it.
You may be known as the crybaby for a week, but trust me, by the following weekend, there will be someone else tearing up and another crybaby to take your place.
