24 Hour Party People

With the twenty four hour party people plastic face 'carn't' smile a white out
Cos' I have to wait for you to conduct.
Press the pause of the self destruct.
With the twenty four hour party people plastic face 'carn't' smile the white out
With the twenty four hour party people ...

I think the reason drugs remain illegal is primarily because of the people that use drugs. I think this is the reason alcohol was made illegal during Prohibition. We like to point to drug addicted celebrities, their bad behavior, and their slides into self-destruction as if this all happens in a vacuum. But it doesn't. The consequences happen in a vacuum. You go to rehab and jail by yourself. You overdose and die alone. But prior to that, you are always in the company of "friends." These friends are the 24 Hour Party People.

The 24 Hour Party People or the 24HPP for short are that class of people who live to party. They drink. They do cocaine. They do cocaine, so they can stay up and drink. They drink, so they can come off the cocaine. They might do a little ecstasy. But there is always the drinking, the music, the sex, and the good times. Daytime is for sleeping. The party is the life.

There are consequences for those who choose not to party. This is the family that gets wiped out in their minivan by the drunk frat brother. This is the mother who finds her jewelry pawned as her son finances another coke binge. This is the husband who sees his bank accounts wiped out by his drug addicted, cheating, partying wife.

I have never been one of the 24HPP. I have met them and been friends with them though. I regret this. I've never done drugs in my life, so I'm not saddled with that problem. I used to drink a bit, but I gave that up years ago as well. The regret comes from the fact that I ever associated with those people or considered that they might have some perspective on the good life. I realize now that I was mistaken.

The 24HPP are the garbage of humanity. They are the employees who call out sick at least once a week. They are the ones with the endless drama, the money problems, the drunk driving convictions, and what have you. Once you realize that someone is a 24HPP, you need to put daylight between you and them. These people are trouble. They will ruin you.

There was a time when I would hang out at the bar. This was "fun." I was really stupid on that. Now, I like to hang out at the library, the bookstore, and the coffee shop. Dark roasted black coffee has replaced Jim Beam. Deep reading has replaced the stupid conversations. The people I meet in those places are intelligent and without drama.



If you want to have a better life, it behooves you to associate with a better class of people. 24HPP are not those people. They will never make you better. They will only make you worse. I think the reason Starbucks became so popular was because they served coffee in the evenings and became a place to hang for people who want a quieter mode of existence. There is a reason they have WiFi at those places.

I need a name for those people at the coffee house. Maybe I should call them the 24 Hour Caffeinated Cerebral Quiet People. It doesn't have the same ring to it though. I think I will just call them the Quiet People. The QP don't bother you. The most exciting thing they talk about is politics. Otherwise, they just read or tap away on their laptops. The caffeine buzz accentuates the hum in their brains.

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