I'll be 21 in a few days. I'm not really sure what to say about it except that I'm not all that excited about it. I guess I should feel "older" but I feel like I'm about to be treated like a baby all over again. I bet you anything that there will be someone who thinks they should offer advice about drinking: "You'll understand more with time..." I'm sorry if it's rude to retort but I must. I would already understand if somebody took the time to teach me "with time" when I was younger. You see, it's all in this culture. I don't want to really celebrate my 21st birthday in the traditional American way, which is supposedly to take your first drink of alcohol EVER at age 21, and then continue to drink until you realize the sun has already come up and you don't remember how the time passed so quickly. It like this ongoing inside joke among those who have already gone through it, to play on those who are about to go through it. It's also got this forbidden quality, the same quality that talking with your kids about sex has. So parents often avoid it altogether and leave their kids to learn on their own. Instead of being excited about turning 21, it actually brings up feelings of anger and disappointment. And to those of you that say to me, "I felt that way too when I was your age, but you'll get over it," I am sure you did. Go on thinking that way and see where it gets your own kids. I don't feel that there is anything at all to be excited about and I'd much rather retort against the entire culture and say "I will not take one fucking drink of alcohol on my twentry first birthday." As a human being, I believe I have the right to do what I wish with my own body. If I choose to drink at 12 years old, I will. If I choose not to drink on my 21st birthday, I will also do that. I am tired of the cultural norms, and societal pressures, rediculous laws, and the amount of drunken migraines that occur because some people out there feel that it's funny to play the inside joke and go along with the belief that alcohol and sex are taboo. Maybe America should grow up for a change.