Imagine that I am writing this column absolutely hammered. How many typos do you think there would be? Would my arrangement of ideas be sporadic? Would I say some things that are inappropriate and possibly even libelous? Let me assure you, I would. I’d sound like a Michael Moore/Glenn Beck/John Stewart/Rush Limbaugh Super-Pundit; the Captain Planet of over-dramatic opinions.

“One of my friends always tries to have in-depth conversations every time he’s drinking,” said Rich Markhardt, senior general studies major. “It’s only when he’s drinking, though.”

As many of you have probably noticed, alcohol removes the awkwardness in social interactions. It makes it easier for guys to approach girls. It makes it easier for that girl to get a drink from that guy. But grandpa’s old cough medicine doesn’t just ease tensions, it also heightens them.

“A friend and I got into an argument over life decisions,” said junior communications major Laura Shadduck. “I definitely had more confidence to be able to get my point across. Result was that we’re no longer friends and it put a burden on our group of friends to hang out.”

Shadduck went on to explain that had she not been drunk, she probably would not have said what she wanted.

“Despite what happened, I think being drunk was a good thing,” Shadduck said. “Drunken words are sober thoughts.”

This may be true to a certain extent, but you shouldn’t always act on impulsive thoughts, especially if you’re drunk and your judgment is skewed.

“One time at my birthday party I yelled at my ex-boyfriend because he was trying to be protective when it wasn’t his place,” said sophomore undecided major La’nitra Thompson. “If I was sober I wouldn’t have went off like I did.”

For those who have been drunk before, the possibility that you’ve said something you would not normally say while sober is not too farfetched. Although it may help to get something off your chest, think about what it does to the point you are trying to make as well as what it says about your character.

If you cannot express what you honestly think to someone while you are both sober, why should they respect what you have to say? The people I respect the most are the people I can talk to about anything and who will talk to me about anything, especially when it’s an issue or topic we disagree on. It’s the mutual understanding that in the end, we’re honest people who can have a mature dialogue.

My grandfather once said, “I’d rather someone spit in my eye and tell me I’m dead wrong, than a person lie to my face and act like I’m right.”

While I could go without the spitting part, this is how people should treat each other. How is someone supposed to improve themselves and fix their faults if they have no idea what they are? Sometimes it takes a good friend to challenge you.

Alcohol may make it easier to vent, but it cheapens those feelings to a $3 shot at the bar, unless you’re an alcoholic, then you’re just cheap.

When it comes to that girl you want to ask out, she might admire you more if you can do it sober in a less loud and sweaty setting. Or if your friend is making you angry, they’ll actually be able to hear and comprehend what you’re saying, as well as react less dramatically, if you sit them down and have a discussion.

But if you happen to find yourself in some drunken argument about politics and religion, or a drunken gossip circle, or a drunken love at first site, take five more shots so you’ll forget about it tomorrow.