The One-Night Stand: Is It Ever A Good Idea? - Part 1

I've never had a one-night stand. At least not a full-blown one like they show you in the trashy college movies, where two kids who've never met get totally wasted and have hot, raunchy sex and then in the morning the girl stumbles home in her short skirt and high heels with smudged lipstick and puffy eyes, rocking a fresh head of sex hair while the guy sleeps 'til noon. Nope, never been there. The closest I've come to that is going home with a guy, messing around a bit, making some super awkward small talk, and then sprinting to catch the bus home. Every serious sexual encounter I've had has turned into a relationship of some kind, and as a result, I've avoided the legendary one-night stand so far. But have I really done myself a favor by avoiding it? Or have I missed out on a key ingredient in the college experience? Is a one-night stand fun? Liberating? Is it something everyone should experience at least once? Or is it a painful regret that's just not worth the walk of shame? These are things I, as well as many other girls, need to know! So I did some research, had some juicy NSFW conversations, heard stories of love, lust and heartbreak, and I got some sexy and not so sexy answers.

The (Sort Of) Success Story

Anne is a junior at Mount Holyoke College and a veteran of the dating scene in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts. Like most Mount Holyoke women, she learned in her first year that the Amherst men you meet at parties are generally not interested in being your boyfriend, or in some cases, even being nice to you. Yet, like many Mount Holyoke women, she manages to convince herself to give Amherst another shot every once in a while, and she'll go to a party, meet a guy, give it a go, realize he's a douche bag, and swear off Amherst men all over again.

Last October, Anne gave in again and allowed her friend to talk her into going to a party in one of the athletic social dorms. Once there, Anne immediately recognized more than half of the guys present as people who had either been jerks to her or jerks to friends of hers, so she grabbed a beer and retreated to the edge of the room with a friend, planning out her exit in her head. But then Nate appeared. He hadn't been around much in the previous year because of a long distance relationship and a semester abroad. But he was tall, dark, and wearing boat shoes and all Anne's reservations about Amherst guys immediately flew out of her head. Somehow they started talking, drank some more, and then the night was over, Anne was drunk, and Nate was heading back to Mount Holyoke with her. She couldn't believe her luck.
"The sex was incredible," she admits, and all conversation dropped when they stepped through the door to her room. But afterwards, lying awake in the dark, it wasn't so amazing anymore. "It was awkward," she remembers, grimacing yet laughing. "We like, didn't talk. Oh, and he hogged the bed." Nate spent the night and hung around for a bit the next morning, not picking up on any of Anne's hints that he should get going. "He was wandering around the room looking at my stuff and commenting on it – I was like, I don't even know you, don't make jokes about my family photo."

When he finally left, Anne walked him to the bus stop, where he promised to take her out to dinner. He didn't, and they didn't speak again. Anne says she would consider having another one-night stand again, but she'd let her past experiences help her choose the guy more carefully. "It was just so not worth it in the morning. He was hot, but he was a pig." The worst part? "He left his underwear!"

Definitely not worthy of a repeat.