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We all had that one friend who seemed to always start partying first and leave the party last. But years went by, responsibilities piled up, and juggling a full time job, family and other adult things gave most of us very little choice but to make those the top priority.
Not for the party animals, though. They tried their best to resist the inevitable pull of gravity, aka maturing, until the point they either let it go, or completely changed their direction of life.
“What happened to that friend that never stopped partying?” someone asked college graduates on Reddit, and the responses started following. Buckle up for the most interesting and surprising stories!
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#1
ran into an old friend who was like that. We were in our late 30s when that happened and chatted; turned out he partied hard until late 30s and during that time, flitted around job to job to simply fund his partying. One day he looked around and noticed that he was the old guy at the bars hanging with early 20-somethings....realized that all of the folks our age were ahead in their careers, with family/kids etc. Said that was a pretty sobering revelation and enrolled himself back into school and was in his 2nd year of engineering as he wanted to be an aerospace engineer.
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#3
A friend of mine in college pulled a Van wilder, and spent 7 total years in college (just getting his undergrad) because he liked the partying so much. He lived in the college 'dedicated party house' that had just two modes, actively throwing a wild party, or recovering from the latest party.
What was wild about him was that even though he lived a party lifestyle, he got excellent grades and took phenomenal care of himself (when he wasn't getting black out wasted and having weird sexcapades), and was the person who got me into running/marathoning.
Eventually, he finally graduated with a degree in Mechanical engineering, moved to the east coast, got married and became a born again Christian. He seems happy and successful and just had his first kid recently, but its absolutely weird seeing him post pictures of him getting adult baptized and doing mission work when I once saw him rail cocaine off of a blow up sex doll.
#4
All these thread replies about how they are now extremely successful seem to fail to take into account factors like having rich parents or good social standing or even developed a prior good work ethic to match their social life. if you come from a poor family and you do this in college, you'll less likely be able to be as successful because if you f**k up when you partied too hard, you wont have anyone to help bail you out of different situations. money makes a lot of difference
OmBoyGanesh 1 year ago (edited)
See. Now my closest adult friend was this example. Grew up really poor & without resources. 2yr transfer to 4yr school with grants & loans and dropped out due to partying. No one to prop him up. But he’s the guy who can talk to anyone and make them feel like family. Never stopped partying but sold himself into a tech sales job (think Apple or Adobe) where his yearly bonus is 6 figures. I get the social-economic warriors always creating visibility for the class abyss, but this specific topic doesn’t hold tight to that narrative.
#5
I’m late to this thread and this probably won’t be seen, but I want to disagree with some of the top voted answers. I interned for a Fortune 100 and converted to a full hire, and worked with them for almost a decade. I know a lot of people who partied with the right people… and made absolute asses of themselves, threw up in a bush, and got fired the next day. Saw it happen during my internship as well as Christmas parties once full time.
Helen Bennett 1 year ago
Upvoting because I'm glad to know that partying with the right people isn't necessarily the route to success! Ps you are currently at #18.
#6
I am that person. Addiction, rock bottom, AA, sobriety, life
#7
I graduated ~15 years ago, and just saw someone I went to college with the other day. She served me at Dunkin Donuts, and has no teeth. It made me sad for her.
#8
I was that friend. I spent 25 years on heavy drugs and alcohol. I wish I could have those years back, but I don't think I would be where I am today without the struggles that I went through. Coming up on 4 years clean now.
#9
He died due to the negligence of the police who picked him up on his birthday to take him to the “drunk tank”. He had graduated college the year prior.
It was always somewhat of a joke that he would be the one to party himself to death, so definitely was VERY sobering when it happened. He was so full of life and just kind of a funny guy to be around when you were at the same place/party. The part that makes me the most angry was that he hadn’t done anything to cause the harm that ultimately led to his death, the police who were meant to keep him safe were the ones who killed him. The civil suit on that wrapped up last year and I watched the verdict come out live while in public. It was so surreal to know who he was past “20 something killed due to negligence of police”.
Always make sure your friends are in a safe “recovery position” if you are not able to watch them after a heavy night of drinking and (further) vomiting. Never on their back. Never with the ability to ROLL on to their back. You never know when taking the extra 1 minute to get them in a safe position will be the line between them waking up the next morning or not.
#10
He became a math professor and when not teaching he travels and has backpacked all over the world.
#11
Librarian, I s**t you not. And he's married and a fantastic father to his daughter.
My wedding reception is coming up. He warned me that he plans to party so hard that we'll need to pull his body out of the bay.
Jeremy James 1 year ago
So that's why my library doesn't open until noon? The librarians all have to walk-of-shame home first?
#12
He drank with the right executives at a conference and got offered a job. He now makes three times what I do.
Ahmad Hamad 1 year ago
The moment when you discover that the studying & working hard won't reach you to the top.
#13
i would wager a lot of these extravagant accounts came from people who were already somewhat wealthy.
i grew up with dudes who "partied super hard" and didnt take their studies seriously or whatever and it didnt work out so well. half of them are dead, the other half are living paycheck to paycheck in drug dens.
when youre surrounded by opportunity, it doesnt really matter what you do, people fail upward all the time when they are born into opportunity and resource, i know people who f****d off their entire f*****g lives and their rich business owner dad just gave them a job making like 35 dollars an hour to basically do nothing.
its fun to pretend that its that easy for everyone but these people live in a completely different world than the average person, if you think its completely normal that someone can just fall into an extremely desirable career either you are naive or you yourself live in this other realm.
#14
He never stopped. He continued drinking at a crazy pace, and lost his job, his driving license, and his wife. He had to move near to a liquor store to keep drinking.
He was found dead on the floor of his apartment from a hemorrhage in his stomach caused by years of alcohol abuse. He bled to death from within. He left behind two sons.
#15
Full warning, its not good.
Had 2 friends like this in uni (2017), one night we were partying at a friends house and they both were fighting on who gets to drive my car home when all 3 of us were drunk. They were blackout and I was halfway there but refused to drive because im terrified of dying in a car. I told them I'll call an uber and they proceed to try and kick my a*s and steal my keys but couldnt even walk well enough to make it over to me. Took my keys and walked home. Stopped hanging out with them. January 2020 they were out partying with their boyfriends, all of them drunk decided to leave and no one made it home. Live in a small town and most good housing is "outside city limits" I don't even know who was driving but they sped off a curve at the bottom of a hill that goes nearly straight down to a line of trees and a lake. Only know that much because that exact curve kills 5-10 people a year and at the time I lived 3 miles from where they passed and it was in the local paper. I refuse to swim at that lake anymore. As much as I didnt like them after our fight I really didnt want my literal worst nightmare to happen to them.
Me 1 year ago
This reminds me of a very sad accident in my honetown about 15 years ago: some teenagers were at a party, the boy who was supposed to drive got too drunk and his girlfriend refused to go with him and walked home with a friend instead. They boy ignored all his friends and took the car. In a curve he lost control, crashed to the sidewalk and hit his girlfriend and her friend. Both girls died, he survived with several injuries. Lot of people were unsure if he hit the girls on purpose.
#16
I lived in a house with a bunch of guys. One of them was in electrical engineering. He got a job at Applebees for some extra cash and started having parties with work people after work (so 3-5am). That made it hard to make class so he dropped a semester. We all graduated and he said he would refocus on school soon, but he was having too much fun partying.
I went back to college 20 years later for a football game. He is still working as a waiter at Applebees. He is the creepy guy who acts like he is best friends a with a bunch of 20 year old kids. He’s a mess.
#17
He partied with the right guys and now makes very good money in sales where he parties with clients but the company pays for it.
#18
I briefly "dated" someone who was a constant partier and our dating was brief simply because he was always drunk when he came to see me. I Googled him out of mere curiosity to see if he was doing okay and found out he ran over a mom of 4 and killed her one night (he was drunk).
#19
He had a work/party habit that I envied the hell out of, one week he was partying literally every day, next week once his workload increased he was back to studying (and maybe rewarding himself with a spliff or beer after a hard day of working). Now he's on the final year of med school.
#20
Just got his PHD in Particle physics. Started tutoring on twitch for free. Started clothing brand, djs, holds festivals in desert.
Seems like he’s doing just fine.
Erik Rydbom 1 year ago
There's a difference between a self-destructive party animal and a flourishing party animal.
#21
He was able to graduate from college - then went to Aspen and became a gigolo bartender at some hot cocktail lounge. He was always hooking up with different women. He got tired/bored around the age of 30 (his words) so he settled down with one of his hookups and they got married. She was a rich girl from an oil family and her father put my friend in a cush VP job so now he's f*****g rich. He also went rad conservative and is running for local office on an anti-CRT, grooming platform. Havent spoken to him in a few years now. Total twat.
#22
His trust fund still pays more than twice my salary per month while he makes 200k at a large tech company with his communications degree that he got because his mom was friends with one of the board members.
#23
Works for some finance company making what I assume twice my income based on his house, car, and lifestyle. He partied and f****d off through college but if he had one thing going for him it was his ability to socialize and network, even in groups or topics he didn't know anything about. That's where I lacked. Even with my GPA and grades, I think he still would have out performed me(position wise) had I stayed in that field. Goes to show the importance of networking over actual qualifications.
#24
i am that loser...i partied till i was 34 and as i looked around the bar i ask myself ...why am i here.where did all my friends GO.....they left the bar to go get married and have kids..and work ..it was a sad realization for me
#25
Know a few people who still party like college in their 30’s. It’s not been going so well for a few years.
One has multiple part time jobs all the time to try and pay for his reckless spending. About $400/month on bars, or more. $350 car payment. Rent for a trendy area of town. Lord knows what he spends on clothes. Has many, many credit cards maxed out and not paying minimums. He is really very sad about his life.
Another is less of a financial wreck but still doesn’t make a lot of money, and spends $400+ at bars every month. Routinely shows up to work late, with a hangover and smelling strongly of vodka soda.
Neither can hold a relationship longer than a few weeks. Neither is really happy with life. Both started to look fairly unhealthy around 30 and now look like zombies and have developed more medical issues compared to the ones in our old group who moved on.
I see a lot of posts about perpetual partiers living great lives, but at least in my experience, most don’t do well at all and are unhappy.
Edit: can’t believe that I forgot the guy who died of a heroin od as well.
#26
He got into med school, partied too much and fell behind and was eventually dismissed. Lost the love of his life (who was also in med school). He moved across the country, and found Jesus.
#27
dude has an amazing career, wildly intelligent, has a great house in a warm area etc etc. Absolute drunk tho, i think out of the last 6 times ive spoken to him he's been sober maybe once
#28
A couple. Over 5 years they traded their house for cocaine. They broke up. He finally wised up in his early 30's, she was last known to still be a complete mess. Her whereabouts are unknown, she may be homeless.
Premislaus de Colo 1 year ago
I know it's totally off the topic, but this is a lovely little house
#29
She literally was dead for a couple minutes in the ER after a heroin od. Miraculously they managed to revive her though, after which she went to some kind of rehab, I’m not sure we kind of lost contact by that point. She’s into plants and owns several cats now.
#30
Worked at a bar in college, and friends worked at other bars. So I knew a lot of people who drank *a lot.*
Most went on to be in sales or some other job where interpersonal communication skills are more valued than raw academic skills. Some do very well.
What do you think ?
David H 1 year ago
The guy I know, he ended up getting his accounting degree, passed the CPA exam, got married, had a few kids, and is living a productive standard middle class life. His wife knows his partying past. I remember when we strapped a gopro camera to him when he went bing drinking so he could see what happened to him when drunk (as he said he never remembered). His wife has seen that video, and thusly has banned him from getting that drunk ever again.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
His name was Steve. The guy was incredibly smart and came from a well-off family (they had their own private library room - I was SO jealous), and was studying for a degree in engineering. He also looked like a Viking and could drink anyone under the table. I once saw him chug directly from a beer keg while holding it over his head one-handed, and when someone said hey slow down there buddy he said, and I quote, "I wanna still be drunk when I get to work tomorrow." (Fittingly, he worked in a bottle shop). He also talked a lot about his various hookups. Super fun guy but yeah, not exactly the responsible type. Last year I bumped into him at the mall after not having seen him in a long time, and he still has the Viking beard but he told me he was getting married and becoming a stepfather so by the looks of things he's put his wild ways behind him.
Death Metal Kitty 1 year ago
Or you know... he's gonna raise another Viking
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WAYNE SIMMERMAN 1 year ago
WayneOSr Unless you’re a Marine you have no idea how hard can we party.. I was the hard fighting hard drinking Marine until I meet the right lady. Returning to the states ran into a fellow Marine who committed “wow, you look ten years younger!” I had quit smoking and drinking. Had a very successful career in the Corps and retired after 30 years.
JustinTime 1 year ago
I tell people I got good at drinking and being an a*****e in the marines.
Load More Replies...
Kill-Bunny 1 year ago
2 people come to mind. Both from rich background. One, who people talked about as very promising, is dead - crashed a car while speeding home form the party drunk. Other one, who was a "lost cause", became a young father and now owns a successful company and is a single father of 3. One of the most respected people in town.
Shawnna Clement 1 year ago
Someone from high school who comes to mind is a guy named Jeff. I definitely was more of a partier myself and considered a screw off (maybe the biggest) even though I'm in Mensa. The difference was I got good grades and was an athlete while he "didn't care enough to even try" based on perception. People thought I was crazy when I'd say he was the smartest guy I knew. Teacher's called him a seat warmer. Sure enough, Jeff got the highest scores on the ACT and SAT, while I got 2nd and 3rd respectively. I transferred schools the following year and I'm still curious what the school did when they realized his intelligence. The guy's IQ had to be in the 150's. I'd bet money that he's successful.
h to da izzle 1 year ago
that guy was me, tried to get a degree from various universities, failed miserably due to my poor learning habits and the feeling i was missing out on everything if i did not attend any party. finally took the right lane and became a social worker, its been 12 years now and sometimes i'm jealous when i see some of my old classmates having paid off their houses, driving nice cars and having families. It's not that i want that for me, i live a good life and earn good money, i have a beautiful girlfriend and and a nice flat, but sometimes i wonder what could have happened if i had taken another more successful path in life.
JustinTime 1 year ago
Most of us from high school gave it up and live middle class lives and except for the guy in and out prison for the past 30 years. From college prett much the same except the guy who started a DJ business then started taking peoples money and not showing up to the events… he had to leave the state. One douche bag died of brain cancer in 2009.
DuchessDegu 1 year ago
The one I know after a couple decade's hard partying/drinking/doing drugs, gave everything up, got married to his childhood sweetheart, had a bunch of kids (5 or 6, I couldn't keep up!). That's the nice part. The bad part is that the previous lifestyle caught up with him and he's pretty much bed ridden; and two of his kids are following the same path of partying and drugs, another one is in trouble for shoplifting
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
I was like this till like, 40, I think. Stopped when I had kids and a serious job to look after.
David H 1 year ago
The guy I know, he ended up getting his accounting degree, passed the CPA exam, got married, had a few kids, and is living a productive standard middle class life. His wife knows his partying past. I remember when we strapped a gopro camera to him when he went bing drinking so he could see what happened to him when drunk (as he said he never remembered). His wife has seen that video, and thusly has banned him from getting that drunk ever again.
Katie Lutesinger 1 year ago
His name was Steve. The guy was incredibly smart and came from a well-off family (they had their own private library room - I was SO jealous), and was studying for a degree in engineering. He also looked like a Viking and could drink anyone under the table. I once saw him chug directly from a beer keg while holding it over his head one-handed, and when someone said hey slow down there buddy he said, and I quote, "I wanna still be drunk when I get to work tomorrow." (Fittingly, he worked in a bottle shop). He also talked a lot about his various hookups. Super fun guy but yeah, not exactly the responsible type. Last year I bumped into him at the mall after not having seen him in a long time, and he still has the Viking beard but he told me he was getting married and becoming a stepfather so by the looks of things he's put his wild ways behind him.
Death Metal Kitty 1 year ago
Or you know... he's gonna raise another Viking
Load More Replies... WAYNE SIMMERMAN 1 year ago
WayneOSr Unless you’re a Marine you have no idea how hard can we party.. I was the hard fighting hard drinking Marine until I meet the right lady. Returning to the states ran into a fellow Marine who committed “wow, you look ten years younger!” I had quit smoking and drinking. Had a very successful career in the Corps and retired after 30 years.
JustinTime 1 year ago
I tell people I got good at drinking and being an a*****e in the marines.
Load More Replies... Kill-Bunny 1 year ago
2 people come to mind. Both from rich background. One, who people talked about as very promising, is dead - crashed a car while speeding home form the party drunk. Other one, who was a "lost cause", became a young father and now owns a successful company and is a single father of 3. One of the most respected people in town.
Shawnna Clement 1 year ago
Someone from high school who comes to mind is a guy named Jeff. I definitely was more of a partier myself and considered a screw off (maybe the biggest) even though I'm in Mensa. The difference was I got good grades and was an athlete while he "didn't care enough to even try" based on perception. People thought I was crazy when I'd say he was the smartest guy I knew. Teacher's called him a seat warmer. Sure enough, Jeff got the highest scores on the ACT and SAT, while I got 2nd and 3rd respectively. I transferred schools the following year and I'm still curious what the school did when they realized his intelligence. The guy's IQ had to be in the 150's. I'd bet money that he's successful.
h to da izzle 1 year ago
that guy was me, tried to get a degree from various universities, failed miserably due to my poor learning habits and the feeling i was missing out on everything if i did not attend any party. finally took the right lane and became a social worker, its been 12 years now and sometimes i'm jealous when i see some of my old classmates having paid off their houses, driving nice cars and having families. It's not that i want that for me, i live a good life and earn good money, i have a beautiful girlfriend and and a nice flat, but sometimes i wonder what could have happened if i had taken another more successful path in life.
JustinTime 1 year ago
Most of us from high school gave it up and live middle class lives and except for the guy in and out prison for the past 30 years. From college prett much the same except the guy who started a DJ business then started taking peoples money and not showing up to the events… he had to leave the state. One douche bag died of brain cancer in 2009.
DuchessDegu 1 year ago
The one I know after a couple decade's hard partying/drinking/doing drugs, gave everything up, got married to his childhood sweetheart, had a bunch of kids (5 or 6, I couldn't keep up!). That's the nice part. The bad part is that the previous lifestyle caught up with him and he's pretty much bed ridden; and two of his kids are following the same path of partying and drugs, another one is in trouble for shoplifting
censorshipsucks 1 year ago
I was like this till like, 40, I think. Stopped when I had kids and a serious job to look after.
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