1. Become Rick's BFF.
Every elite bar and club has a “guy" that you need to know if you want to get in. At Emory, Rick is THAT guy. For the first few weeks (and later on for big nights out) Maggie's will develop a huge line that stretches down the side of the strip mall (yes, Maggie's is in a strip mall). A huge advantage of knowing Rick is being able to skip the line and walk right in. Not only will you not have to wait 45 minutes to enter the bar, but you can feel like a total boss when everyone watches you walk right in.
2. Never get to Maggie's before 12 A.M.
You will soon learn that no one is at Maggie's until the clock strikes 12. It's a different atmosphere at Maggie's before the Emory crowd gets there. First of all, there are tall tables set up because there aren't enough people to fill the space. Around those tables you will find the Druid Hills locals that have beards longer than Moses'. Secondly, the music is all honky-tonk bluegrass... and let's be real, no one relevant listens to that.
3. Never wear expensive shoes to Maggie's.
Attention girls: DON'T wear nice heels to Maggie's. They will get ruined within minutes of you arriving. Nice heels are also a pain in the butt to stand on line with -- people are bound to step on your feet or get aggressive and knock you over. Attention guys: I know you're all jappy boys since you go to Emory, so DON'T wear your Gucci Loafers!! The chances of a drunk frat boy walking by with two pitchers of beer in his hands and spilling all over you is HIGH.
4. Know your ID like the back of your hand.
Maggie's is usually very easy on ID's, but within the few first weeks of school, Rick and Mason will randomly quiz you on your information. It's important to memorize your birthday—that includes your horoscope—and your address! If you do not know your information, the bouncers will either have you take a walk to go learn it (this is true it happened to a friend of mine), or they will make you leave the premises.
5. Locals will be creepy.
As stated before, there are locals that exist. Maggie's is not (even though it might as well be) Emory property. One way to recognize a local is to notice how they are dressed. If it is a girl local, she probably is dressed like a hippy with weird clothing, and has a few too many tattoos and piercings. If it's a guy local, usually they have a gigantic beard and look like they belong at a rodeo. Either way, they are only at Maggie's to pick up girls and guys so unless you're into hooking up with a local… Don't even go there.
6. The middle and back of Mags is not a freshman zone.
Maggie's can become very crowded very quickly. In this scenario, the upperclassmen tend to roam to the back of the bar while Freshman and lower-classmen stay close to the door and wait for all of their friends to get there (and scope out the cute guys/girls that walk in obviously). Note that once it becomes crowded, unless you have to desperately go to the bathroom you should NOT try to venture off to the back of the bar. It will take you 20 minutes to reach the other end, and you will be felt-up all over the place by other people trying to squirm by. NOT worth it.
7. Shots at Mags are not the same size as normal shots.
I learned this one the hard way (shout out to the Uber driver who drove the car that had two drunk college freshmen throwing up out of either back window). Maggie's serves shot glasses in over-sized medicine cups. Know you're limit and know that you should definitely drink less than your limit at Mags, due to the skewed size of the servings.
8. Girls: Never buy yourself your own drink.
You figure out that the only money you need to carry on you is small cash for taxi cabs. When you walk into Maggie's there will definitely be at least a few guys who offer to buy you a drink. Always go for it. But be warned that accepting a drink is giving a guy permission to hit on you and be creepy… which is totally worth it for the free drink… right?
9. Guys: Buying a girl a drink does not mean she will get with you.
Just because you buy a girl a drink, does not mean she will sleep with you. Get that in your head right now. Most of the time she will carry on a conversation for five minutes longer than she was planning on. The end result is always the same though: “Thanks so much for the drink! See ya!" A friend of mine made the mistake of offering to buy a girl a drink the first week of school, and she schemed him so much that he ended up buying drinks for all her friends. Minutes later they all disappeared.
10. Expect to hear the same exact songs at least 5 times a night.
The same drunk sophomores are always the ones who are dumb enough to pay to listen to all the same songs every single night. These songs include "Wagon Wheel," "Chicken Fried," and "Piano Man." Get used to hearing that trio every night you go out. And more importantly, learn all the words to them. If you're going to embarrass yourself by singing drunkenly, you might as well be singing the right lyrics.
