The philosophy of peer pressure

What do you do when the party you wanted to go to changes who you are for the worse?

What do you do when your efforts to get through the door transform you into a person who does questionable things just to get accepted by the other party goers?

What do you do when you’ve got a foot through the door to this fantastically alluring party, and you realize that 1) you’re not following the dress code, 2) half the room will be horrified that you’re not following the dress code, 3) the other half thinks the dress code is wrong and 4) you’re not crazy about the dress code either? Not to mention the fact that the way you dressed for this party was a compromise to begin with, with half of you looking like yourself and the other half is a poor attempt to look like everyone else.

How do you live with yourself? Do you leave the party, or do you just hide in a corner and hope no one sees you (thus defeating the object of coming here)? Do you drink yourself silly and dance on the table as long as you can before the guards chuck you out?

Yeah, I know that last one sounds super cool and everyone will laugh, “Yeah! Do that one!” But what about the morning after? When you wake up and realize that you made a prat of yourself, just to be a part of something you’re not sure was your thing to begin with?

The answer is, I guess, that there are other parties to go to. But you’re in a part of town you don’t know your way around, and there isn’t a taxi in sight. And when you try the door on the opposite side of the street, the one with the pleasant piano music streaming out, no one even hears you knocking.