Close Friends More Tolerable After A Few Drinks

AUSTIN, TX—Saying the ritual helped take the edge off the intimate get-together, local man Ted Boyd told reporters Wednesday that spending time with a group of his close friends was always more tolerable after a few drinks. “It’s great when we can just hang out and drink beer like this, because otherwise it can be pretty hard for me to connect with these guys who know me and understand me better than anyone else in my life,” said Boyd, who added that the hardest part of meeting up with his friends was the first 10 minutes or so, before he felt any effects from the alcohol, but that after the intoxicant took hold, interacting with people he liked and had known well for many years started to feel like something he could bear. “Enjoying our cherished acquaintance, our shared history together, all our inside jokes—that stuff’s a lot easier to get through once I have a good buzz going. And later, when we’re three or four rounds in, that’s when I can really begin to handle having these kinds of ordinary conversations with people who, through some of my best and worst moments in this world, have always been there to love and support me.” At press time, Boyd was reportedly throwing back a shot to make a romantic evening with his loving wife more endurable.