Beer Pong Tables
Beer Pong Tables
It's hard to make the transition between being the college frat brother to the
upstanding adult that many of us are expected to be. There comes a time when you need to put away
the beer pong tables and frat pennants and grow up. Or do you?
There was once a time when a man could display a fraternity pennant next to his wife’s
china cabinet and still be seen as an upstanding gentleman. What changed was the nature of the fraternity and
the college life. If you focus more on the fraternity rather than the frat party, you will garner respect and
be able to proudly speak of your house and the good times you had bonding with your brothers. I wouldn’t tell
stories of that night you dominated at the portable beer pong table during a Sunday social with the in-laws. It may be seen as uncouth.
That being said, you don’t have to completely give up your old lifestyle either. If
you have a basement or den that you can convert into your own space then you can still proudly display the
artifacts of your past. Maybe you don’t plan on using your custom beer pong tables for their original purpose
but they can act as a piece of nostalgia and a reminder of good times when you invite your brothers over to
watch your alma mater team trounce the competition.
The general idea is to keep it classy. Nobody respects the slurred speech of a frat guy as
much as they will respect a well-spoken brother of an old fraternity house with a rich history. Parties are fun but
they are only worth their salt in the moment. Frame that pennant and hang it next to the paddles. Ditch the empty
liquor bottles and nudie posters.
Five Tips
To help embrace the balance between the spontaneous, party-loving dynamic of fraternity life
with the austere, history-rich tradition of fraternal brotherhood, consider these five tips
that may help you avoid steering too far off course in one direction or the other:
#1 – Know when to tone things down.
Enjoying good beer with friends, reminiscing about good times in the fraternity house on a
Friday or Saturday night is a perfectly acceptable course of action, even if it takes on a
party atmosphere after a while. What’s critical to do is not banish partying and good
times, but simply constrain them to appropriate times and places. Bonging six beers right
before the big fraternity alumni charity brunch isn’t exactly going to inspire good will
toward you or other frat brothers joining in with you.
#2 – Know when to amp things up.
Finding that balance isn’t always about toning down your fraternity happenings. In fact,
knowing when to let loose is important too. Reliving some of your college glory days years
down the road is all fine and well, so long as you know that you’re no longer 22 and on
campus, where getting away with trouble was much, much easier.
#3 – Display aspects of your entire history
There’s no need to be ashamed of your fraternity heritage as you move on in the world. In
fact, many leaders in business and other practices were members of fraternities or
sororities in their day. So if you want to display a pennant or a sweater from your
fraternity, by all means do so. Just make sure these pieces are shown as one unique aspect
of your illustrious history, rather than displaying only your fraternity memorabilia.
#4 – Continue the tradition
One of the best ways to continue the tradition of your fraternity is to stay involved in
community service project supported by your fraternity. That way, whenever you mention that
you’ve had one too many beers again just like that night during your senior year, you can
also counter that you’ve stayed up with more than just your college drinking habits.
#5 – Don’t preach
Rehashing that age-old ‘fraternity versus non-fraternity’ argument isn’t going to win you or
fraternity life as a whole any new fans, particularly since the argument never did much good
back during freshman year when it might have actually mattered. Share your fraternity
identity with those who care to listen, and move on with those who become uncomfortable or
awkward when you bring the topic up. After all, that will help you better identify your
time with your frat as an overall positive, instead of having it bombarded with the negative
feelings of others time and again.
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