Bell Ringing in the New Year

Everyone has one of these friends. He was a good friend of yours in college, perhaps even a roommate. You liked him because he partied like a rock star and was always a good time. Then you started to worry that maybe he had a drinking problem, but it was college, everyone has a drinking problem. Then he started to get really emotional all the time, very melodramatic, and by the end of college you didn’t really love hanging out with him anymore. Oh and now you were certain he had a drinking problem. After college you would still hang out with him but you were slowly tapering off and moving in different directions because he brought just a little too much craziness to the table. Most of the time this person ends up blackout drunk and either gets violent, cries (or is at least on the verge of tears) because he doesn’t get why no one hangs out with him anymore, or is too wasted to function properly and you’re worried about him possibly dying at some point in the evening. Inevitably though you get a phone call or email asking what you’re up to on New Year’s Eve and you’re just too nice not to invite him to the party. I mean after all, he is a good guy still, and he’s fun to hang out with as long as there is no crying and you can avoid any sort of episode. So you’re like, sure come up and hang out, because you’re thinking maybe he’s back to the old guy and everything will be cool and he can start hanging out again. But then you’re not at all surprised when he comes charging around the corner at 3:30 in the morning and punches Matt in the face before Mike has a chance to restrain him. And then a little later you find him stumbling around in a different part of the city and you let him come and sleep on your couch so that he doesn’t kill himself driving or get murdered but you’re pretty sure he scared your gf and you’re probably not go to invite him to anything else anytime soon. Good stuff, Happy New Year indeed.