Some facts in our lives never change. Every year, you hear the New Year’s Eve dilemma. We all have the date memorized, yet we always wait until the last minute to organize our festivities. As D day approaches, you can feel the frenzy all around the city. The venues post the most attracting flyers at their entrances, promising to provide the best entertainment, food, and drinks of the year. Your e-mail account explodes with holiday greetings from companies and advertisements of the different events going on around town. You think it’s only from outside your circle, but even your friends and colleagues are doing the same. They either come with suggestions or count on you to find some.
December 31 takes on unreasonable expectations; it becomes a serious indicator of the coming New Year. You have the feeling that if you have a lackluster night, your entire year will be the same. Obviously, you start to stress about it. Where should I go? With whom? How much I am ready to pay? This last interrogation is very important. The average price in NYC was between $150 and $300 for an event with an “open bar ”. In fact, the words have a new meaning for the New Year. For example, “open bar” can actually mean a small glass of something vaguely alcoholic after a long wait in line.
Some people would prefer to join a house party where you either have to pay for or to bring your own libations, while others would just rather stay at home and watch TV. Living in a big city also gives you the opportunity to attend one of the events the city has organized, like the 2012 Central Park Midnight Run, the DJ night in Berry Park (Brooklyn), or the famous Times Square Ball drop. When you are a newcomer in the city or a tourist, the last option seems to be the most appealing. Millions of people shared the same plan this year, as in other years, and decided to head to Times Square. Watching the big crowd on TV must have been amazing, but if you haven’t been there personally you cannot understand how packed it was. The reality was far away from the glamorous version portrayed on screen in New Year’s Eve.
The show was scheduled to start at 6 pm. However, people arrived in the early morning to secure a nice spot. I am sure they heard, at least once, to avoid the crowd, but they didn’t listen. They wanted to check for themselves the whole atmosphere they used to watch on TV. A lot of people came to attend the party; surpassing all previous years. Standing all day long until midnight to watch the ball drop, they also saw some artists perform live, including Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Pitbull. It’s hard to describe the pain (yes the pain, because there is no other word to describe it) of waiting for hours. How can we have the will to celebrate under these conditions? But we all did!
It’s amazing to feel the excitement while the countdown started. Kids and adults were all counting out loud, their eyes fixed on the time to finally welcome the New Year! I believe it was the spectacle of the fireworks that made them forget everything, at least at that moment. One thing is for sure, however – you spent last Saturday waiting in the cold, the most important thing now is how you will spend the whole year! Make it memorable. Happy New Year!
By Kenza Yarhfouri
