I'm watching Tyra right now on Oxygen, and it's about "party girls" who go out and binge drink and emulate celebrities like Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. They're all impeccably made up, bleached blond (some extensions), wearing nearly identical outfits - cinched-waist belts, skinny pants and black stilettos. They go out every night, and oftentimes are so drunk they don't realize what they're doing.

And I just feel kinda sick. What the hell is happening to kids and teens these days? It's like we're looking at the apocalypse or something.

In the past couple months I've gone out more than usual - at first it was because I'd been dating someone who liked to go out late on weekends, and he brought me along for the ride. It was fun most of the time, but sometimes I would sit and watch the scene and wonder what the point really was - and why the boy that I was with felt the need to engage in this week after week. At that point, sometimes I would think, maybe I should have a few more drinks. But why is that a remedy for thoughts like that? You know? So I can become one of those people who gets wasted and becomes reckless?

After he and I stopped dating, it became less of a weekly pattern for me to go out, but I still like the idea of catching a few drinks at a bar on a weekend night, and kind of relax a bit. I don't know. It's fun, and sometimes I just want to go out and laugh and be stupid, but then other times I'm not sure I'm comfortable with how alluring it is. It makes people make poor decisions, it makes them sick, it makes them a danger to themselves and others. So - what's the point, again?

Sometimes I think I should have studied psychology.