Fond Memory of Destruction

When I was a sophomore in college, I went over to a friend's room in Sherrill Hall* to say goodbye. I found him and his roommate surrounded by about 20 cases of empty Piels bottles which apparently had been stored in their closet throughout the year. Or maybe they'd just finished it the night before, hard to say.

Faced with what to do with them all, I came up with a great solution. There was an open dumpster located one floor down, off to the side, up against the brick wall of the attached bookstore. A competition! We would have a competition to see who could hit the wall, shatter a bottle, and have it all land in the dumpster! No one would have to carry any of the cases out, no one would get charged a clean up fee. It was perfect.

Naturally, you're going to need beer for this project. Luckily, central New York has places where you can procure supplies for missions like this.

Beer in hand, we set about our task:

As I recall, it was a beautiful sunny day with bunnies and very small trees. We spent an hour or so throwing empty bottles out that window. I have this strange thing where I have very scattered memories. But this one, despite my inability to draw, is so clear. I can hear that first crash and exactly how I felt.

I would say that it was a different time and place back then and that somehow makes what happened a totally reasonable thing to do...but the reality is, I would do it again today. In fact, every time we sail, I have a massive urge to throw empties at Cleveland Ledge. Or the shore.

Fear not, my green friends. I no longer do this. But man, that urge is huge.

And no, I don't know who won the competition. My guess is that other people got bored and I sat in the window throwing bottles.

* According to the campus web site, Sherrill Hall is now a co-ed residence called Sherrill House. It still looks the same. I bet it smells different though.