Go To Bed

By Jillian Owens

 

 

 

A few weeks ago, I attended a screening of Dolemite.  It was campy and fun.  Lots of folks came out to bask in the glory that is Rudy Ray Moore’s jive-talking, karate- chopping, polyester-clad self.  It was a late-night showing, and everyone was having a great time.  Until one inebriated young lady started randomly yelling at the screen.  It’s a silly movie, and I didn’t take this all that seriously.  It’s not exactly Schindler’s List, you know?

 

 

But after the film let out sometime around 1am, something happened.  A few folks were peeved at Too Drunk Girl and yelled at her for being rude during the movie.  Her friends rushed to her aid.  The peeved folks’ friends rushed to their aid, and suddenly multiple fights broke out in the lobby.  Pushing, shoving, yelling, hitting, and cell phone filming ensued!  It was a full-blown scene.

As I watched a 70-year-old lady brandishing a walker at a nearby hipster, I turned to my friend and asked, “What the hell is wrong with all of these people?  They just need to go home and go to bed.”

Seriously.  That’s all that needed to happen.  There wasn’t going to be any resolution to this argument between Team Too Drunk Girl and Team Angry Filmgoers.  Everyone just needed to go the frick to bed!

 

They should have just gone here.

 

Do you ever find yourself in moments like this?  After an evening of partying perhaps a bit too heavily with friends, I met up with a couple of girlfriends for brunch.

“So…how did the rest of your night go?” I asked one of them.

“I got really really mad at my husband for wanting to go to Wendy’s at 2am when we got home.  We had a big fight over it.”

“Over Wendy’s?!? I know it’s gross, but really?”

“Yeah,” she laughed.  “I feel so stupid now.  Why the hell did I care if he wanted to go to Wendy’s?  I should have just gone to bed.”

There it was.

“So…how was the rest of your night?”

“Eh…I had a fight with my date and now I’m not entirely sure why I was upset with him.” I shrugged. “Shoulda just gone to bed.”

There it was AGAIN!

Could it be?  Is this the answer to at least a large percentage of our problems?

How often do you stay up late arguing with your spouse or significant other, adhering to that old adage, “Never go to bed angry!”, only to wake up the next morning unable to remember what the big deal was?  If you had just gone to bed at the first sign of trouble –with an agreement to address whatever the issue was with cooler heads in the morning– everything would have probably been just fine.

 

Of course, your bed probably isn’t as grand as mine here.

 

This works for non-relationshippy things in your life as well.  All too often I’ve found myself up at 3am trying to flog myself forward in whatever sewing project or writing assignment I’m trying to complete.  I’m cranky.  I’m not enjoying it.  And I keep making stupid mistakes because I’m tired. Why do I keep torturing myself?

Sad?  Angry?  Stressed?  Quixotic? Overworked?  Feeling slightly ill?  The answer is simple folks.

Just go to bed.  

It’ll look better in the morning.

 

 

Jillian Owens is a writer, designer, and eco-fashion revolutionary. A Columbia SC transplant, she graduated from the University of South Carolina with a BFA in Theatre and English. When she’s not gallivanting about, she’s busy refashioning ugly thrift store duds into fashionable frocks at ReFashionista.net or helping the underserved through her work in Community Impact at United Way of the Midlands. She also reviews local theater productions for Jasper Magazine and Onstage Columbia, and is an occasional contributor for The Free Times. Any comments, questions, or crude remarks can be directed to [email protected].

 

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