What's the deal with Dartys?

A close look at the widely-welcomed phenomenon

It’s hard to miss. Facebook invites are flying all over Antigonish for the newest craze: the darty. No, it has nothing to do with cigarettes nor throwing pointed objects at a wall. The “darty” is the newly coined phrase referring to a party during the daylight hours. In other words, a day drinking party. It’s hard to argue that Xaverians don’t like a good time and it seems someone had the epiphany that waiting for nightfall is just a waste of precious drinking hours. Albeit, I myself love a good darty, are there implications in this rise in day drinking or is it all fun and games?

I’ll be honest, cracking a cold one under the beating sun is always enjoyable. For whatever reason, day drinking – at least for me personally – has always been a little more fun than drinking at night, and certainly has a different feel to it. Maybe it’s simply the fact that we regard night as the time for drinking, and therefore drinking during the day feels like a slight bend of the rules. Maybe it’s a slight delusion that summer isn’t yet over and that you don’t have a paper due on Monday and a midterm coming up. Whatever the reason we engage in day drinking, there are some clear disadvantages. For one, if you plan on extending your buzz on into the night as well, you’re investing a lot of liquor for the cause. Let’s say you drink five beers on an average night out, well you might be looking at ten or so beers consumed if you’re starting earlier in the day. That weighs a little heavily on the wallet if you’re a serial dartier. The likelihood of you having eaten properly are also lower as you might have drank right through lunchtime. Consequentially, your likelihood to be on a new plane of drunkenness is also higher, which is pleasant for neither your liver nor the friends that end up babysitting you.

How does one then engage in safe and classy dartying? After consulting several serial and professional dartiers – that will not be named for the sake of future employers – I have compiled a list of some key advice. First of all, mix in a water. With the sun in its full effect and alcohol sneaking into your bloodstream, it’s easy to become dehydrated. Water is your friend. I know sobriety may seem like the enemy at the time, but a few glasses of water will not nullify the obscene amount of beers you ingested, don’t worry. Tomorrow morning you’ll be grateful. Secondly, slow down. As great of a snapchat story funneling three beers at 2pm would make, odds are you won’t see 2am. It’s not a race and it’s certainly not a competition. Relax. Third piece of advice is particularly useful: what you’re drinking makes a difference too. If you’re planning on making it all day, liquids with low alcohol content are better. So maybe don’t bring a quart to the party and opt for a pack of beer instead.

Homecoming is coming up September 30th and it has traditionally been the day where all of campus – and off-campus – celebrate being Xaverians together in the messiest way possible. Yet, with this new rise in the darty fad, is homecoming going to be any different than your typical Saturday? Honestly, probably not. That is certainly one plus to the new darty fad: for the most part, we’re all now experts in day drinking. Years prior, a frosh’s first time day drinking was likely to be homecoming. Now, with these daytime parties popping up everywhere, the odds are higher that they have already learned how to day drink in a chiller atmosphere than the ecstasy that is homecoming.

Ultimately, the darty will likely fade as the wind gets colder and the leaves all hit the ground. I’ll be one of many that will be sad to see it go. That said, my liver will be thrilled, as will be my wallet. The darty will be resurrected come house hockey cup season, and likely other big events throughout the year. All I know is the next time the darty train comes into town, I’ll be the first to hop on; liver and wallet be damned.

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