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If you were in Manhattan on New Year's Eve, would you go to Times Square for the "ball drop?"
In the late '70s and '80s I went to Times Square four times. It was fun the first and third times I went, it was for a New Year's party hosted in a Time Sq. office building that had a view of the ball. My second trip to the Sq. was the first time I stood on the street with the crowd and hollered and partied in the cold. It was a blast, but it was "way back then" when street parties were fun and largely libertine affairs.
On my last trip to the Sq. for New Years, my pals and I again were outside on the street. It wasn't nearly as much fun as the first time; indeed it felt like a "been there, don't that, why the hell am I here again" thing...Frankly, I didn't want to go to Times Sq. in the first place, but my friend's date whined that she'd never been, so we agreed to be there at midnight so she could "put the feather in her cap." I was so "over it" that I was just glad that it was cold outside so that at least the champagne stayed chilled.
As I said above, that as "back in the day" when the event wasn't so security conscious as it now. To wit...no alcohol, no backpacks yet you have to take food, water and snacks, no restrooms, you stand in "fence pens" that you can't leave once you enter, etc., etc., etc. Given all the security for the event, rather than being a massive party in the street like it used to be, it's now basically going to Times Sq. and standing the cold for 12 hours without going to the restroom yet having had to carry in at least water, and all so you can yell at midnight and then leave, making a mad dash to the nearest john only to find that "a thousand" other people are in line there ahead of you. Other folks can do that, and more power to them if they do, but I'm not going to. If the Square party were the wild and crazy affair it used to be, sure I'd go one more time, "for old times sake," but it's not like that and likely never again will be, so no more Times Square for me.
Happy New Year to you all!
- Yes, I'd go.
- No, I wouldn't go.
In the late '70s and '80s I went to Times Square four times. It was fun the first and third times I went, it was for a New Year's party hosted in a Time Sq. office building that had a view of the ball. My second trip to the Sq. was the first time I stood on the street with the crowd and hollered and partied in the cold. It was a blast, but it was "way back then" when street parties were fun and largely libertine affairs.
On my last trip to the Sq. for New Years, my pals and I again were outside on the street. It wasn't nearly as much fun as the first time; indeed it felt like a "been there, don't that, why the hell am I here again" thing...Frankly, I didn't want to go to Times Sq. in the first place, but my friend's date whined that she'd never been, so we agreed to be there at midnight so she could "put the feather in her cap." I was so "over it" that I was just glad that it was cold outside so that at least the champagne stayed chilled.
As I said above, that as "back in the day" when the event wasn't so security conscious as it now. To wit...no alcohol, no backpacks yet you have to take food, water and snacks, no restrooms, you stand in "fence pens" that you can't leave once you enter, etc., etc., etc. Given all the security for the event, rather than being a massive party in the street like it used to be, it's now basically going to Times Sq. and standing the cold for 12 hours without going to the restroom yet having had to carry in at least water, and all so you can yell at midnight and then leave, making a mad dash to the nearest john only to find that "a thousand" other people are in line there ahead of you. Other folks can do that, and more power to them if they do, but I'm not going to. If the Square party were the wild and crazy affair it used to be, sure I'd go one more time, "for old times sake," but it's not like that and likely never again will be, so no more Times Square for me.
Happy New Year to you all!