Argumentative Essay On Tequila

My college roommate, John, will tell you that his first run-in with tequila was his last. One bad, “Cinco-de-Drinko,” and the guy has sworn off the stuff for good. So when at a Vegas bachelor party earlier this month, we all knew that John would relive that night before refusing a celebratory shot of Patrón. In doing so, John has made the mistake of falling into what Hammond calls, “The Recalability Trap,” in focusing on dramatic events that transpired years ago. Now, waking up in the hospital fresh off a stomach pump, charged with assaulting two police officers, and remembering none of it due to his blackout is certainly, “a dramatic or traumatic event in your own life [that] can […] distort your thinking,” but his decision to abstain from tequila in particular is biased and psychologically flawed, influenced by consequence over causation (Hammond, 9).

At the time, John lacked experience with most alcoholic beverages (only consumed beer prior) and his pre-drinking rituals that night involved no food or water as he rushed to pre-game after baseball practice before heading out. In fact, tequila was not his only drink that night, as he polished off a 40-ounce bottle of Colt 45 (malt liquor) before slurping down margaritas, followed by shots of tequila so cheap that the cap was a screw-off red plastic sombrero. He was severely intoxicated in a short amount of time, regardless of what he consumed that night, but yet he forecasts future bouts with tequila will turn out similarly based on swayed assumptions that Hammond calls, “memorability distortions.”