Don't Drink the Water

L and I are a little late to the party, but we recently found out about a game that I am LOVING the idea of.  If, like me, you were in college at the turn of the millenium and you're a girl, you're probably familiar with malt beverages such as:

Smirnoff Ice,

Skyy Blue,

and Bacardi Silver.

(The only reason I remember this one is because I still have a random key chain- currently attached to our spare house key- that looks like a bottle of Bacardi Silver, compliments of a night out at Carney's.)  Back in the day, these were a step up from wine coolers and served as a nice alternative to beer for anyone who hadn't yet acquired a taste for it and wine, which we weren't yet sophisticated enough to drink at a bar (I cringe at the thought of what wines the bars I hung out in college would have served).  I only remember drinking these up until my junior year.  Perhaps that's due to the fact that I turned 21 that year and could get into bars that served mixed drinks instead of just beer and the aforementioned malt beverages... So anyway, they were cool and had their 15 minutes of social relevancy, but not so much anymore.  I honestly can't remember the last time I had one or saw someone drinking one anywhere.  When I think of Smirnoff Ice, I just remember the tarty-sweetness and the carbonation.  It's just not a taste I prefer to go back to at this point in my life.

But on to the new-found game.  It is currently being played amongst young 20-somethings and is called "Icing."  The only thing I can compare it to is the game that the male staff members play in the movie Waiting.  (Side note: if you haven't seen that movie, it is funny and worth renting.  Plus there's the bonus of Ryan Reynolds being in it and he is quite attractive.)  The goal of icing your unsuspecting friends is to get your them to look at a Smirnoff Ice.  When they do, they have to drink it.  Why is this funny?  Because as I previously mentioned, I have no desire to drink the same adult g beverages I drank prior to being able to legally purchase them.  If I were to show up at a party with a six-pack of any of the beverages pictured above, I'm completely certain I would be greeted with puzzled looks and ridicule.  (My friends are great like that.  We do hold each other accountable for our bad decisions.)  So if you happen to get iced and have to drink a Smirnoff Ice, another fun rule is to institute a drink of shame.  One of L's co-workers told L that in his group, they make each other "shame drink" by forcing the drinker to down the whole bottle while on one or both knees. 

Obviously if your group of friends plays this game, you start to get wise to the game, which prompts the need for my favorite part of the game: creativity.  For example, hiding a Smirnoff Ice in a friend's purse and then calling her cell phone so that she digs through her purse and finds the bottle.  The possibilities for hiding bottles or playing switcheroo with a beer bottle are endless. 

This game comes at the PERFECT time: football season.  I encourage all of you to go buy a 6-pack of a malternative (malt-alternative) beverage and ice your friends at your next casual social gathering!  I guarantee it will garner laughter and lots of fun.  Happy football season and happy icing!!!