I am convinced that Kilroy’s on Kirkwood is a cult. Now hear me out before you stop reading. I am not here to give any Bloomington bars a bad reputation, by any means.
However, it is difficult not to notice the intensity with which IU students flock to KOK, waiting in ridiculously long lines just to get their hands on a generically designed shirt with its logo plastered on the front.
I often see large lines forming outside Kilroy’s every other night of the week. I see other female students dressed in heels and dark lipstick, shivering with no jacket in 30-degree weather. I applaud these women. Seriously, I don’t know how they do it.
KOK offers drink specials for literally every day of the week. Let’s be honest, $2 Tuesdays are just too good to pass up.
And one can’t help but become enticed by Friday After Class. Free food and $2 pints are like music to the ears of any poor college student. For me, saying I don’t want free pizza is like saying I don’t need oxygen to breathe.
That being said, I admit I’m also enticed. KOK is the go-to bar in Bloomington. It’s in the heart of downtown, right next to other popular bars. They have drinks with cool names, like Liquid Cocaine and Buttery Nipple. Seriously, I highly recommend the Buttery Nipple.
Turning 21 comes with a sense of superiority among students. We flaunt our alcoholic-beverage purchasing capabilities by wearing KOK attire wherever we can. It is almost impossible not to walk around campus without seeing a fellow student sporting the latest KOK T-shirt.
By wearing KOK shirts, we are communicating to others that we like to go out, that we have friends and an active social life.
It’s also free advertising for KOK. We parade around with a brand on our chests. And we seem to be okay with it.
While under-agers can buy the T-shirts online, it’s an extra $12 than what they cost at the bar. But let’s not forget the added cost of buying a few more drinks, followed by drunk pizza from Papa John’s and a hint of unadulterated shame the next morning.
But are these so-called “specials” even that much of a deal? I know my wallet continues to cry out at me the next morning, no matter what day of the week it is. Maybe I should’ve accepted that free drink from the stranger giving me the creeper vibes. Next time.
As a junior, I am relatively new to the bar scene. I have yet to decide which bars fit to my liking. Kilroy’s is certainly not my favorite, but it’s not at the bottom of the list, either.
You’ll find Kilroy’s Sports Bar located there. I got lost in the jungle once, and I’ve never returned since. There are few things more traumatizing than getting lost in a sea of sweaty drunk people with 1-percent battery life on your phone.
I simply wonder what it is about KOK that makes students love it so much. Nothing about going to a bar at 7 a.m. before a football game sounds appealing to me. In fact, it might be my own personal hell.
However, I can understand the aspect of tradition and comradery. Kilroy’s is a well-established bar where IU students enjoy spending time having drinks with their friends. We socialize, meet new people and learn what not to do next weekend.
And I see absolutely no problem with this.
Whatever you’re doing, Kilroy’s, just keep on doing it.
nrowthor@indiana.edu
