The Plant

I step inside The Plantation, expecting a cloud of cigarette smoke to immediately engulf me, but smoking has been banned here; this is unfortunate for me because I am a smoker, and when I was underage all my friends always talked about how nice it was to be able to sit down at the bar, have a beer, and enjoy a smoke.

It is my 21st birthday, and I plan to have a shot of whatever the bartender recommends, and whatever drinks my friends plan on buying me. The bouncer immediately asks for my identification, which figures... I still get carded for cigarettes.

Me, my fiancee, and my friends Pete, Karlie, Zack, Nate, and Erica head up to the front to get a few drinks. I have no idea what to order. The bartender can tell I'm fresh fish.

He tells me that he'll make me a shot that I'm sure to love - it's free. What's not to love? When he places it in front of me, I look at all my friends wearily. They're smiling and waiting. After it goes down, I taste tobasco sauce. Yuck. I nearly throw up.

After the grossest shot I've ever had, we head over to the ping pong table. I'm really good at this game, but none of my friends really like it. The bar is fairly crouded tonight because it's a Saturday, so there are already people playing at the table. Lucky me. New competition. I ask to challenge the winner, and they agree. His name is Silas, and he beat his other friend by fourteen points. This guy looks like he'll be difficult to beat.

As I begin playing Silas, my fiancee comes over with two pitchers of Kokanee, and seven Jager Bombs. I tell Silas that it's my 21st and if he could wait a moment while we all take a shot together, and he says he doesn't mind. I'm thankful that I can no longer taste the tabasco sauce after we shoot the Bombs. I poor myslef a glass of Kokanee and go back to the table.

While I play, my fiancee and Nate leave to play some pool. I suck at that game, but I'm sure I'll be tipsy enough to later to at least try it out. My other friends want to play some darts, but that won't be possilbe until we leave for the next bar scene. I end up breaking a sweat playing ping pong with Silas, and I only beat him by two points. I wanted to take on the next competitor, but since it was my 21st I couldn't spend all of my night at the same bar... there are at least four bars my friends and I want to hit tonight. Let's just say I didn't even make it until 10:00 pm that night. I heard that is how a "21 run" generally turns out, and now I can see why - EVERYONE wants to buy you a shot!