University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee

The personal stories area is a place to put your experience – good and bad – involving alcohol in the neighborhoods. The hope is that by sharing your experience others will be able to learn and grow from your personal knowledge. It’s also an anonymous area to share your thoughts and feelings on alcohol – whether you use it or not, have a family history, or have had a positive or negative experience with alcohol. Many UWM students have different views and this is a place to express them. You can submit your stories to Sarah Belstock at Norris Health Center's Office of Health Promotion and Wellness at belstock@uwm.edu.

 

Halloween 2007. One of my best friends, named Jess, came to UWM to visit me from UW-Whitewater. When she arrived, I told her that we had a party to go to. Of course, it was a friend, of a friend’s house. We got ready along with a few other friends, pre-gamed for the party, and called up BOSS. BOSS said it would be a 30 minute wait and we were fine with that because we could keep pre-gaming. Once BOSS got there, I noticed that Jess was pretty intoxicated, but it seemed as though she was having a good time. I wished I would have looked at how much she was actually drinking before we left. Jess and the other friends we were with went to the basement when we got to the party. I stayed upstairs because I was socializing with someone. Within 5 minutes of arriving, one of the other girls we were with called me to tell me that Jess was puking and that I should come up and take care of her. Suddenly Jess became my problem and my friends wanted nothing to do with her. I went down to the basement to find Jess in the corner curled up in a ball throwing up. I cleaned up her puke, apologized profusely to the guy’s who owned the house, and grabbed a plastic cup for her to puke into. I knew we wouldn’t be leaving for quite a while by the condition she was in. I thought of calling BOSS, but then I realized that we wouldn’t be leaving because there would be no way she could get up the stairs, especially when she was wearing high heels. Our other friends left to go to another party down the street, so Jess and I were stuck there. After 45 minutes, Jess wanted to leave. So I called BOSS and they said they would be there in 5 minutes. This meant I had 5 minutes to get her up the winding stairs and outside. A man wearing a Spiderman costume saw the situation I was in and helped me get Jess up the stairs. Once we got home, Jess collapsed to the floor and asked for a trash can. In the morning she didn’t remember the house we were at, the guy dressed in a Spiderman costume, or getting onto BOSS. Jess thanked me for helping her so much, although she had no recollection of it. - Anonymous.