40 days and 40 nights

Day one, and look at that face already

I'm not religious myself, but I feel others should be able to believe in whatever they want, from Jesus to Pikkiwokki the mud god. That being said, It gets a little annoying when everyone and their brother wants to tell you what they gave up for Lent. Who cares. I've never been fond of the idea of "giving up" things, it seems a bit negative and I don't really think denying yourself something you enjoy does anyone any good (unless it's for health reasons, of course).*

Which brings us to this post. My disinterest in others' self-denial ends when there is a direct effect to myself. A buddy of mine has decided to stop drinking alcohol for the next 40 days. It's not really anything to do with Lent, but the timing makes it convenient and gives an excuse to have drunken Easter party. His motive is weight loss, as he has apparently gotten heavier than he'd like to be.

How does this affect me? This is my go-to drinking buddy. Who is going to keep up with me as I start the weekend with happy hour on Thursday and continue until I have to go work on Monday morning? What am I supposed to do now, drink by myself? What about balance? Should I increase my consumption to make up for his and prevent the universe from tipping over?

The next 40 days will probably be pretty uninteresting, actually. I've abstained from drinking for longer before, and it's not really a big deal. At most I'll have a few opportunities to tease him with a tasty cocktail and a designated driver to save me some cab fair. If anything does come of it, I'll be sure to post it here. Cheers!

* I'm not a doctor

UPDATE: this endeavor lasted all of almost three weeks. Funny thing is, it was my view of self denial and this blog post that changed his mind...