A shot of truth serum...(Veritaserum)

I like to give my friend's birthday celebrations fun festival-themed names like mine...therefore, in 2004, when I met SG, her birthday quickly became dubbed "Sarah-thon".  Our birthdays have typically been celebrated together, but this year, we took a departure and had separate festivities, only a short 7 days apart.  First, let me start by saying that it's clear to me that I'm too old to have two bingers in one week.  Second of all, we must hit that threshold at 31, because at 29, SG clearly has not hit it as of yet.  She did us all proud by getting obliterated two weekends in a row.  God bless youth.

Given that pretty much the same group of people gathered for both occasions (sans the NYC cousins...we missed you though!), we started to spot a trend...  SG likes to "be honest" when she's drunk.  Maybe we all get a little looser with what we say when intoxicated...the part that struck me the most was the fear with which people anticipated said honesty.  It was almost like "Uh oh, maybe it's time for a bathroom break...SG looks like she's about to come over and give me a shot of truth serum..."  Almost like it was tantamount to getting the H1N1 vaccine or something.

Don't get me wrong, nothing she said to anyone was really mean OR upsetting.  In fact, every single comment she made to anyone was out a genuine concern for that person's well being.  SG is one of the most caring people I know, so I wouldn't expect anything less.  What it all boiled down to for me is that it's odd how friends who clearly love each other don't feel comfortable enough talking about that stuff completely sober on a Tuesday.  Under those circumstances, the same thing would be deemed "a heart-to-heart". 

As friends, it's obvious we care about one another.  Maybe something about adding social lubricant makes the intrusion more tolerable, or we feel that people will forgive us for what we say.  I like to operate under the assumption that people will forgive me for being blunt, because they know that I'm only saying what I'm saying because I care.  Maybe that's why I didn't get a shot of the truth serum either night. If I'm blunt with someone, they feel at ease being blunt with me. It's called reciprocity :)

Actual conversation between SG and JE as SG delivered a shot of the truth serum and JE dished it back:
SG: I think you need to get a babysitter more often and let us babysit Ben.
JE:  Well, I think you should be nicer to your mom.

So there.