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As we near year’s end, I’m re-posting a few heavily-commented-upon posts from earlier in the year. Here’s one of my favorites!
Now I’ll admit that from time to time, I enjoy a good glass (or six) of, uh, wine, in the course of, oh, let’s say an academic discussion or an evening symposium. One such evening last week led to an incident in which I, being thoroughly uninhibited and deeply joyful, decided to share my unedited joy with others…let’s say coworkers…via email at 2am.
Although I didn’t manage to embarrass myself out of a job, it led me to wonder why I don’t hear more about drunk emailing. It must happen all the time. It’s akin to drunk dialing (featured in the movie Sideways), but even easier to do (and easier to track down the next day in your Sent Mail folder). Imagine the ease of drunk emailing if you have a BlackBerry (or are just really good at texting). New technology gives us newer, faster, and more trackable ways to connect with the world at times when we really shouldn’t.
Some (sober) Googling revealed that this does happen all the time, of course, and there’s even a term for it: d-railing (apparently a slightly drunken conflation of “drunk emailing”). There’s also drunk blogging and even (shudder) drunk eBaying.
I asked some friends what they do online when they’re drunk, and by far the winner was: drunk iTunes Store purchases. That “buy now” button is just too easy. And then I remembered something from my evening of drunken computing…checking my Amazon wishlist, I discovered that I’d decided to treat myself to a few paperbacks that had been languishing on my list for a year. I even got the two-day shipping.
So let’s have it, folks: what do you do online when inebriated?
Note: check out the 109 comments on the original post!
Good post. There’s even worse stuff to do when you’re drunk and online, like messing around on facebook…
Even text messages, with Skype become way too easy to send.
posted by Tommy on 12-27-2007 at 11:41 am
I too have been caught drunk emailing. Picture this - home after a bad day at work, the third martini since 5 PM on a nearby table, laptop up, checking email and you find an email from someone commenting or adding his 2-cents about the day’s earlier events. Well I must say it is really easy to reply to that bonehead after a couple of drinks! My roomate warned me as she heard me banging out a response on my keyboard with fire in my eyes . . . I was warned, but did not heed the warning. Luckily I was still professional in my response and the bonehead deserved it, but I am sure I would not have “said” those things sober.
posted by Chrissy on 12-27-2007 at 12:31 pm
Thanks for reposting this. Over the past 6 months or so, this has popped into my head several times and the comments always make me laugh when I think about them. :)
posted by Trena on 12-27-2007 at 2:00 pm
Bushmill’s and Fark. I find that Mental Floss goes better with coffee. If I’m having Irish Coffee, it’s a toss-up.
posted by Joe Maz on 12-27-2007 at 2:08 pm
I once booked two vacations to Las Vegas. We were planning one trip and we started talking about all the fun things we were going to do over a few drinks. With the liquor and excitement we decided to book right then at 1 am. Well with a foggy drunk brain and clumsy fingers, I not only booked an extra night but clicked one two many times and booked two vacations for the exact same time. When I called Southwest the next morning, instead of admitting I was drunk, I acted like I didn’t know computers very well. It was embarressing either way.
posted by Beth on 12-27-2007 at 2:39 pm
One night after work I went to the bar for a drink and ended up drinking about half a bottle of Jack Daniels. I went home and decided to check my Myspace account (For God only knows what reason) and some random dud sent me a message about how I looked nice and we should be friends. I usually delete these but this time decided to reply. I sent this nasty message basically saying what a loser he had to be to be to try to pick up girls on Myspace. He wrote back telling me I’m a horrible bitch. If telling the truth makes me a bitch, so be it.
I’ve also been known to enter contests that get me put on mailing lists when I’m drunk. Amazingly enough, “I was drunk when I gave you my number” does get those people to hang up and leave you alone.
posted by Marta on 12-27-2007 at 3:25 pm
I have a nasty habit of Damazoning (Drunk amazon ordering)
Ill have been in the pub and we will have reminisced about a band/film/book or something and ill stumble home and look for it on Amazon and order it is its cheap…
But then it happens…”People who bought this product also purchased these…” It gets me every drunken time. Recommendations, multi buy savings, the £15 free postage quota…
luckily you can send things back and get refunds….
posted by Martyn on 12-27-2007 at 4:53 pm
I drunk eBayed/shopped online at least three times in November/December. I blame Christmas.
posted by stacy on 12-27-2007 at 9:34 pm
i’ve never bought anything online while under the influence, but then again, i’m not much of a drinker. on the other hand, i do endulge in greenery, which can only make the experience happier. i make a point of challenging myself to see how well i do. i’ve gotten so good at things that i’ve almost run out of challenges! there’s nothing more fun than smokin’ or even drinking a little and playing a shit-ton of video games. guitar hero and alcohol is tough… when your fingers are slow and dumb it’s hard to play, well, anything on guitar hero. moral of the story, though– inebriation + video games = entertainment.
posted by holly on 12-28-2007 at 6:36 am
I’m pretty sure my pre-Katrina trip to New Orleans might not have happened if I haven’t been drinking wine with a bunch of friends while they were making their reservations. Suddenly it was my turn and I pulled out my credit card and bought plane tickets without a second thought. Later I got to explain my husband that I’d be out on town on my birthday a few months later.
posted by Average Jane on 12-28-2007 at 10:48 am
I don’t know if anyone else used/uses the website/program Blackboard in college. My professor used it for one of our history courses; you can sign in with a password, check class notes and assignments, and there’s a message board about class topics. Part of our weekly homework would be to go on the site and participate in a discussion of our choosing, with other classmates. My worst case of drunken ____-ing was when I drunk Blackboarded.
When I came home very late from a VERY intense bender one night, I apparently 1) called several people, 2) broke up with my boyfriend over instant messenger, and 3) accessed Blackboard. I didn’t realize I had until I went to class the next Monday. My professor asked to see me after class. He said he was concerned about some comments I’d left over the weekend on the discussion board. A Japanese classmate had written a response to a question, and I had responded to her comment with something along the lines of “You so smart, you right that’s great comment, you sooooo smart.” Crap. I am very far from racist, and I happened to like the girl in question, so I have no idea what the hell I meant by it. Her response was very smart. I made up some story to my prof (who was about to report me to the Honour Board) about a friend accessing my computer while they were drunk. He believed me, and I apologized to the girl. I still have no idea why I would have said something like that to her…
posted by Molly W. on 1-2-2008 at 12:34 pm