I woke up in Victoria hospital with an IV in the back of my hand. When I realized where I was, my first thought was to get out as soon as possible. Since my official graduation would be in October, one month after I left for Japan, my parents had scheduled graduation pictures before I left. My picture appointment happened to be later that very day. I needed to get home to recover and clean myself up before pictures. There was no way I wanted my parents to know that I had spent the night in the hospital.
I got the nurses attention, got the IV removed and headed to a phone. I didn’t know when The Ex had left the previous night or how angry she was going to be, so I called the frat house for a ride. I made it almost the entire way home without puking. Almost. My apologies to the people waiting for a bus in front of Burger King at confusion corner – I didn’t want you to see that.
At home I slept for a few more hours, had a shower, tried to eat something small, and waited for my ride to pictures. My family commented on how pale I looked and that I must have killed a few brain cells the night before. I didn’t share any details.
My graduation pictures look terrible. I am pale at the best of times, but on this day, I looked practically albino. Wearing a bright white shirt made the effect even worse. Only my sister noticed the band aid on the back of my hand and asked about it. I said that I must have bumped my hand at the wrestling show the night before. She said “good, I thought maybe you got really drunk and needed an IV at the hospital”. Lucky guess!
So if my family is reading this – there is the true story about why I look like an albino ghost in my graduation pictures.
For everyone else reading this – graduation pictures are really important to parents. Don’t screw yours up.
Drinking in Japan 