rant: ready or not

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Getting ready to go out is more enjoyable than going out. There, I said it. It’s the time of the night when anything is possible. Your makeup is pristine, your bank account hasn’t been drained by $26 cocktails, and your friend hasn’t drunk-dialled her ex (yet).

As a lifelong introvert, I’ve always preferred preparing for an event to attending the event itself. I remember getting ready for my first high school social in year eight. Although I had recently gotten my braces off and should have been ready to embrace my nascent teenagerhood with enthusiasm, I was instead filled with dread. Unsure of what to expect and fearful of the potential presence of boys as old as 15 (!!!), I clenched my newly straightened teeth in the days leading up to the big night.

When Friday afternoon rolled around, my girlfriends and I assembled to get ready. For reasons unclear to my 29-year-old self, we decided it was crucial that we all wear a variation of the same thing: denim shorts, a loose muscle tee with a bralette underneath and a white ribbon in our hair. Devastatingly chic. As the dulcet sounds of Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite” floated from an iPod Touch, I could feel my anxiety melt away. We ate Maltesers and TeeVee Snacks from the packet, took photos with our digital cameras and brushed our eyelids with Urban Decay. I couldn’t tell you what happened at the social, but I do remember that the experience of primping and preening with my friends had made me feel like a proper teenager. This is where my love for the early parts of the evening began.

I know, I know, we should all be going out more. In our post-COVID, screen-addicted world, I acknowledge that there is something to be gained from actually leaving the house to rub elbows with our fellow humans. Young people, especially, are in dire need of affordable third places where they can congregate and make mistakes IRL. But just because you can argue that going out offers more benefits than simply getting ready, that doesn’t make it more enjoyable. Just like going to the dentist isn’t more enjoyable than eating a block of chocolate.

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