Part of the problem here is that we have this weird fetishization of youthful innocence in America. Children shouldn't curse, drink, do drugs, smoke, or fuck, and yet we know that they do all those things prodigiously. Rather than educate them about moderation and safety (as we would and do for people in any other age group), we instead try to impose upon them not only a prohibition on action, but a prohibition on even talking about the subject (abstinence only education, etc.). Kids being kids, they engage in all these activities anyway, but the situation is then made even worse because they don't know anything about proof strength or ABV or what the relative potency of different alcohols are (and we won't even talk about the kids that think tin foil is effective for birth control...). I'll admit to some foolishness myself, the first time I drank. I had an idea of the different strengths of booze and whatnot, but no clue how quickly (or not) doing shots should affect me. So my first real drinking experience my girlfriend and I sat down with a bottle of cheap vodka and started doing shots...and after three or four shots we both felt fine! So we did four more! Then we had the sense to stop, but it was pretty much far too late and we spent the rest of the night cleaning up after each other... I feel fortunate that we did have the sense to quit when we did, because I can easily see how someone with little or no experience with alcohol could easily fool him/her self into thinking that 21 shots is nothing.

This is especially true when you consider that many bars serve shots of mixed low proof liquers that aren't all that potent. It's one thing to do, say, 21 shots of 34 proof Bailey's Irish Cream (you'd probably puke from the richness of it, but it's doubtful you'd get alcohol poisoning). It's quite another thing to do 21 shots of 80 proof Jameson's Irish Whisky, but a surprising number of college students only have a vague notion of the difference ("What, they're both Irish, aren't they the same?"). This sort of confusion is further exasperated by liquers like Southern Comfort, which comes in four different proofs (100, 76, 70, & 42). You could probably safely do 21 shots of the 42 proof, but you'd be in serious trouble if you tried the same with the 100 proof...

Good times. I never touched booze until I was 21 +/- 1 month (despite what I put on those stupid anonymous high school "surveys" about drug/alcohol use --- you waste my time, I waste yours, cuz that's how I roll).

Because I could tell College Drinking stories until 4am, I will limit myself to two (2) anecdotes.

But, I made up for it senior year. I had one friend who arranged his schedule to have Monday, Wednesday, and Friday off. The bars in our college town were populated with annoying people on the weekends, so Monday night was party night. The bartender on duty then was not the asshole who would be a dick about everything unless you were a [hot] chick or heavy tipper, but the much easier to relate to older guy in his late 50s wiling away his golden years in a depressing scary bar serving random townies and... us. They even had a town chronic drunk who did soccer games as a ref on the side and would show people getting tossed out a red card. It was fun.

Anywho, I learned sometime Senior year that I was resistant to hangovers, except one time I had a hangover from hell, and the next morning I had to go on a long car ride and to a conference. That was doubleplusungood. (Ironically, because I was too sick to object that was a conference which had me get 'volunteered' to take an administrative leadership position at a major conference held in New Orleans over New Years Eve. So instead of partying half of the nights I stayed up reviewing documents. It was uncool.) Then I wasn't. So, I'd go get really ripped, stay up till 3am and then go to 9am class the next morning. Cuz that's how I rolled. One night I ended up walking to a Denny's in the next town over. Good times. Good times.

I also had another (girl) friend (note: Not 'girlfriend') who liked to go drinking. So on almost every Tuesday night we'd go. This one sketchy bar in question served shots by the... shot, or by the pitcher. Since it was $3 a drink or $9 a pitcher you were better off getting a small pitcher. One night we both had a metric crapload of booze for some reason. I ended up having drank 23½ shots. To this day I am never really sure where the ½ came from, but I know I was ready to go the next morning and she was hungover for an extended period of time. Weird, isn't it?

A few years later and I can't drink more than few rum & cokes without feeling a bit light-headed the next morning. Also, really spicy foods like chicken wings for some reason give me mini-hangovers.

I think I'm over the hill. Anyway, I'm off to listen to 70's Canadian Progressive Rock music.

This is a compelling argument for lowering the drinking age to 15.

It's what kids do. They do a lot of stupid, potentially fatal stuff like play chicken, consume questionable chemical compounds, fool around with loaded weapons, surf on the hoods and roofs of moving vehicles, etc.  Their willingness to do these activities is only intensified when groups of them gather.  It's been that way since the first group of young kids gathered together outside of Oog's cave.  The lucky many will survive the experience and live to tell everyone else about the stupid shit they did when they were kids.  The unlucky few will be the subject of internet "how could they be so stupid" stories like poor Mr. Drews.

It's what kids do. They do a lot of stupid, potentially fatal stuff like play chicken, consume questionable chemical compounds, fool around with loaded weapons, surf on the hoods and roofs of moving vehicles, etc.  Their willingness to do these activities is only intensified when groups of them gather.  It's been that way since the first group of young kids gathered together outside of Oog's cave.  The lucky many will survive the experience and live to tell everyone else about the stupid shit they did when they were kids.  The unlucky few will be the subject of internet "how could they be so stupid" stories like poor Mr. Drews.

Never counted the number of shots.  When I was young (that would be a long time ago), the legal drinking age was 18 (3.2% beer).  Well, since I was working in a graphic arts studio part time, it was easy for me to alter my draft card (remember those?) when I was 16 so I suddenly became 18.

College years?  Tequilla parties every now and then, when we could afford them, and sometimes a "purple passion" party (surgical 95% ethanol + Welches grape juice).

Yes, I had a few episodes of "talking to Ralph on the Big White Phone" and "driving the porcelain bus".  Somehow, by the grace of God, I survived.  

I feel bad about the guy, but any noob drinker who tries to put down 21 shots of anything stronger than beer is in big trouble.

there's only one way to find out...