21st B-Day

Quick Story: S0 I was down at my local bar picking up some food for Carol and I, and what looked like a 16 year old walked in and sat down next to me at the bar. He called over the bartender and asked to do a shot, any shot. The bartender was confused, but ended up giving him a shot of rail tequila. He asked how much it was and then got up and left. Apparently the kid was doing this for the past 30 minutes. The bartender and another customer was sort of making fun of him and I thought it was a little strange.

Well he returned with the exact amount of money for the shot. And then he asked for another one. Nothing specific, but just a shot. The bartender started to get a little pissed, since he didn't know what type of shot he wanted. He looked at me for some help, so I chimed in that he should do a vodka shot. He agreed and he did it, and then got up again and left.

The customer then told me it was his 21st birthday. Ahhhhh....Now it was making sense. So when the kid, Nat, came back in to give the bartender the money for the shot, I congratulated him on turning 21. He ends up telling me that he has never drank before and that he is the oldest of all of his friends so that is why he is by himself. He then tells me that his friends are outside, too scared to come in for some reason, and are paying for his shots. So of course I buy him a drink and then he asked for advice about bars and drinking and here is what I told him:

1. Nat was in love with Long Island Ice Teas, which is the drink he wanted when I offered to buy him a shot. I told him that it is only a fad and your desire to drink these will go away. Also I told him to ease up on them since it will give you a huge hangover, in which he responded with "Well all I need to do is eat potatoes, right?" Wow, I wish it was that easy.
2. You need to tip the bartenders after every drink. Apparently he wasn't doing that and was understanding why the bartender was not being friendly. I ended up tipping 200% on my drink I bought for him, hopefully making up for his lack of tipping.
3. Never shoot Rum. Never!!! Apparently his Dad drinks rum and it always smelled good, so he thought that he should have a shot. Explained to him the concept of mixers and what goes well with each liquor. He responded with "So can I get a shot of Rum and Coke?" Ugh.

So I left him there by himself drinking Long Island Ice Teas and doing shots of warm rail vodka and tequila. I'm still trying to decide if drinking alone on your 21st is a better scenario than going out with your buddies whose sole purpose is to buy you the worst shots ever and put you in the hospital.