Publically a Zombie outbreak to our knowledge has never occurred, HOWEVER most if not all of us have at one time or another have been incredibly hung-over. The purpose of this blog post is to help my fellow classmates understand that preparing for, and living during a Zombie apocalypse is very much like coping with and surviving a nasty hangover on Sunday morning.
As many college students in this country are well aware, there is something almost magical that comes with that first sip of a cold drink quenching your dry cottony mouth rolling out of bed. Now I am no expert; but I have seen enough Zombie movies to know that the same satisfying feeling we enjoy while chugging fluids hung-over is very much the same feelings Zombies experience with their first bite of flesh.
Furthermore as we continue to draw parallels between a good hangover and a Zombie apocalypse we see that memory loss, lack of understanding, and often panic for yourself, your friends and loved ones are prime similarities between a hangover and the apocalypse. In the first episode of the Walking Dead we see a man who rolls out of a strange bed, has no idea what has happened, how he got there, or why he’s in so much agony. As he makes his way through this foreign environment, destruction and bodies blanket his surroundings…. Now doesn’t this sound a little familiar? Essentially the opening scene of the Walking Dead, is what you will see or experience on any given Sunday on most college or University campuses. Just like those Sundays where you sit around the kitchen table in your boxers asking yourself the eternal question; “What the f*** happened? “ … You are once again our hero Rick Grimes on the sidewalk in episode 1.
Finally, memory loss and physical needs aside it is important to see the larger theme at hand. When a college student “goes out” and enjoys a number of friend generating beverages, they are actually and unknowingly being exposed to the Zombie virus for the first time. As the night progresses the college student becomes more and more infected slowly loosing his or her agency, and all the while trying to convince those around them that like the desperate father in Spoiler; “ I am not even that infected. Really I swear I am fine, I am not even infected” Ultimately of course we know that this “infection”, will lead to destruction and suffering for the college student. The student begins to follow the horde unaware of their identity or surroundings. The cognitive ability of the brain all but gone, all the student knows is to follow this random group whose ultimate goal is late night food and to find more people. After filling his stomach with “Brains over Burlington” the student now looks for either some company from a student of who is equally if not more “infected” than he is, or a couch/bed like structure to spend the night on. Of course as we all know, weather the student chooses to finalize his infection process with the company of someone also infected, or face down on said structure; in either case the next time the student rises, their soul and memory will be gone. Their bodies will be tattered and broken, and when they do “rise” bright light will be very painful, and the world as they once knew it, is now a post apocalyptic world filled with suffering and uncertainty…. On a side note however, and luckily for the those that serve “the virus”, this apocalyptic world while painful and harsh, will once again be filled with hungry Zombies looking to become more infected again that following Thursday evening.
This was great. I really liked your comparisons of a hangover and what it would mean to be a zombie. Now that you point them out its easier to see more and more similarities! The inability to do anything besides eat the next day is also relatable to the zombies walking around searching for BRAINS!!! Awesome post.
I thought for sure you were going to equate being hungover with being a survivor in the apocalypse. You would have little food, little water, you would be sickly, sad, and everything would seem bleak. Is this not how one feels when one is properly hungover? As for a zombie feeling like it is hungover, I would think a zombie would not have feelings at all, at least ones that we would recognize. Our post-drinking woes are of a bodily (or if we're going to wax philosophic, mental)nature. Pain and discomfort are signals to the brain that we need to fix something or we may suffer damage of some kind. The Undead are permanently and unfixably damaged, so what warning bells would go off?
I thought you drew some really interesting parallels. I hadn't really thought of the infection- drinking aspect. I guess like Rachel's comment above, I was more thinking of the post-apocalyptic survival situation, walking around in search for food/water but usually everything seems unappetizing, so theres is relatively scarce food. Awesome post!
This post had me laughing the whole time. I've never really thought about a hangover that way, but it makes sense. Actually, your point about the zombie virus beginning during the party is also true. As parties go on, the depressant starts to take it's toll and make us forget who we are. I love the parallels you make!
I enjoyed this post a lot, really funny! I would have enjoyed seeing a comparison to being a zombie like this written in Zombies Are Us.
This is a great post! It kept me interested because not only was it hilarious, but you also made a lot of good points. Hangovers really are horrible!