Wearing a seatbelt to minimize injury in case of a car accident, locking up a bike to ward off thieves, investing in plastic cases to guard electronic devices: The list of seemingly necessary precautions seems to be growing larger.
It's grown so large, in fact, that Google's popular Gmail program has implemented a feature that helps to fend off one particularly dangerous act — sending late-night e-mails while drunk.
The program, aptly dubbed "Mail Goggles," forces its users to quickly complete a set of five relatively simple math problems before a drafted e-mail can successfully be sent. The feature is activated during a user-specified time frame, namely late weekend nights.
Mail Goggles' release is evidence that those partaking in drunken communication have graduated from mere drunk-text messaging to a bigger, potentially scarier arena.
"I wake up in the morning hoping I'll have a drunk e-mail," said senior Alex Schuman, who routinely uses her Gmail account after-hours to send messages to both her friends and e-list groups of which she is a member. "They're very funny."
Schuman explained that for her, drunken e-mails often have lighter implications than other methods of communication.
"I definitely am an avid drunk texter, but if I make it to bed by the end of the night alone, I'll usually send a drunk e-mail," she said. "It's usually ridiculous stuff that doesn't make any sense. It's usually to a group [of people], blabbing about how much I love them."
Sophomore Peter Day, who said he has neither received nor sent a drunken e-mail, explained that for him, Facebook.com messages and wall postings are a comparable form of late-night communication.
"I do drunken Facebook wall posts … My drunken Facebook messages and texts are really amiable, to my friends, like, ‘I really like you. I'm glad you're my friend,'" Day said. "I'll come home at night, someone will leave me a post, and I'll be like, ‘Oh, I've got to respond to it.' And it will be drunken by default."
But while an element of humor and levity is undoubtedly associated with intoxicated typing, the morning after can bring unforeseen consequences.
"A text message you can write off as drunk texting, but an e-mail is more permanent," said sophomore Emily Ruff, who admitted to having sent a handful of after-hours e-mails while under the influence. "[I've sent drunk e-mails that are] more relationship-based. It's not a good thing."
"I've definitely sent one to someone I didn't mean to," Schuman said. "That's also a problem."
Still, the ease of sending a text message after downing a few cocktails hasn't been easily replaced by e-mail: Many students might not take the time or effort to get to a computer should the desire strike.
"I think [e-mail] is a little more serious than a text, and it definitely has made some interesting situations the next day," Ruff said. "But if you get to the point where you're going to have drunken conversations, your computer might be a little bit of a lesser priority. I'm usually not going to go home and go on my computer, whereas my phone's in my hand."
By and large, students said they haven't experienced enough regrettable circumstances resulting from drunken e-mails or Facebook messages to employ a service like Mail Goggles.
"People have sent me a fair number of drunk e-mails," Ruff said. "Usually they're more things to laugh about than be offended by."
"[Mail Goggles] takes the fun out of it," Schuman said. "I'm pro drunk-e-mailing."
Echoing Schuman's sentiments, Day said he doesn't plan on making any strong efforts to stop himself from typing or texting after he's had a few drinks.
"It makes life a lot more interesting when you throw in unnecessary drama," he said.
