My mother enjoys the occasional margarita, or cheap beer, but has never been a heavy drinker. She, like most parents, doesn’t encourage us to drink to the point of losing our inhibitions. However, she also realized that with us going off to college, it became pretty inevitable to partake in excessive drinking. She always told me the usual, “watch out for your drink,” “make sure you watch them pour your drink,” and “take your own money and don’t let strange men buy you drinks.” I must say though, my favorite advice until this day still is:

“Trasero fondeado no tiene dueño!”

(Passed out ass has no owner!)

In reality, she doesn’t use the word “trasero,” and instead uses a word Pitbull named a song after. But, this was her way of letting me know that if I drank to the point of no return, I’d be unable to control my surroundings. This could lead to bad decision making or engaging in non-consensual extracurricular activity I wouldn’t recall the next day. We’ve all had those nights where we had that extra shot or extra glass of wine. We’ve all received a phone call from a friend who had a little too much to drink and therefore let all hang out a little too much.

All these lessons applied to my brother as well. My mother has never been sexist with her advice. My mother also doesn’t hesitate to share such advice with my friends when she hears them tell me their stories of alcohol induced rendezvous. She, even now that I’m 28 and my brother is 31, constantly reminds us of the consequences of our actions.

There’s nothing more sobering than having her tell me this before a night out with friends.

Cheers!

Victoria Moll-Ramirez is a broadcast journalist based in Atlanta, GA. She is originally from Miami, FL and had the great fortune of being raised by the sassiest, spunkiest, wisest, most hysterical Honduran woman in the world. Victoria’s mother, Bélgica, is 60-years-old, resides in Little Havana (Miami) and enjoys a good margarita accompanied by a heartrending ranchera. Victoria blogs about her mom’s funny and wise sayings on, “In My Mother’s Words.”