Who can party on New Years Eve anymore and get home safely? Even 2 lousy drinks and you’re going to jail. Rolling roadblocks and breathalyzers. No thanks. I’m staying home. I wouldn’t get out on the roads stone cold sober on New Years Eve. The cops are just itching to pull somebody over for anything.
I’d love to attend a big New Years party at a hotel. Check in for the night. Party with a few hundred people and stagger back to my room. I’m not aware of any partys like that locally.
I’m 51 and I’ll be doing what I have done for most of the bunch of years which is go to a jam band concert. NYE concerts are fun because there is usually an extra set of music.
I can give two data points and you judge. I have twice been near Times Square and watched the ball drop. The first time was in 1962-63 and a friend and I just took the subway to 42nd St., got off and watched. There was a crowd, but you could get reasonably close to the square. The second time was exactly 40 years later when my son had an apartment on 50th St. at 8th Ave. We had gone to dinner and come back to his building. All of 8th Ave. was cordoned off and the cops didn’t even want to let us onto 50th. My son and DIL had ID, but my wife and I didn’t and had to argue with the cops. Later we walked down to 7th Ave. 50th was clear but again there was a cordon at the avenue. We got on to 7th, but the entire area was an incredible crowd of people. We watched the ball drop and then went back to the apartment. At Times Square, at least, the celebrations grew enormously in 40 years.
FWIW, we are having one couple over to share a glass of bubbly at midnight. Then we will make like good little campers and all go to bed. They will have a half mile drive on local streets to get home.
Just about every highly anticipated New Year’s Eve party I’ve been to has been crashingly disappointing. I think the best was the one where I showed up to find my then boyfriend with his arm wrapped around another girl. He just looked at me, and I swear, growled. I left in tears.
I started lowering my expectations after that, went to a few nice, small events over the years, including one with more dogs than people, but now, it seems that as my friends and I get older, going out has less appeal and the drunken debauchery of past New Year’s Eves can remain as memories.
Sorry to add to the harrumphing, but over the years two things really put me off New Years’: a couple of unpleasant encounters with drunken aquaintances who inexplicably felt they had to get belligerent about one thing or another, and (when I lived in France) the Parisian habit of hurling huge firecrackers at each other if one dares to venture into the street.
These days I nuch prefer to hang out at home with some snacks and a little fizzy wine, and watch movies all night.
OTOH, a few years ago I went out to a bowling party with some friends on New Years’ Eve and that was loads of fun, so I guess it is possible after all.
Not a big fan of getting all dolled up and spending the evening with hundreds of other people all trying to create an atmosphere of festivity, but I’ve planned more than one small gathering (8-12 folks) for a NYE Sleepover party at my home. One of the most fun was a blind champagne-tasting party for Y2K. It was interesting to hear everyone’s tasting notes as the evening wore on and we put more bottles in the recycling bin. One fellow’s tasting notes included, “Tastes like snatch,” which so far as he was concerned was the highest compliment imaginable to give to bubbly. I’ll take his word on that. The world survived and everything.
Mornings after always include hair of the dog and Eggs Benedict, along with bowl games for those who want to carry on with the festivities for the day.
Good times, good times – but every year would be too much.
Tonight, it’s just me and the Dachshund with a bottle of Veuve and probably won’t make midnight. Half the champagne will be left over as the Dachshund doesn’t do his part. Friends coming over tomorrow to help finish it off and for a Mexican feast, bowl games and beer. Depending on how the games go, should be a great start to 2015.
I’m under 30 and I’m going to the most boring in-laws NYE party. There will be lots of finger foods so that’s really the only reason I’m bothering. Parties for adults are just loud and boring. All people seem to do is drink and tell the same damn stories over and over again at louder and louder volumes throughout the night (until I get a headache). And going home you meet all the drunk drivers on the wrong side of the road (literally happened last year :eek::eek:). It’s just a dangerous, annoying, miserable night to be out and about. But hey, endless delicious finger foods!
As to maybe staying home and watching it on TV, the TV specials are incredibly dull. Announcers who aren’t excited, shots of a jam packed crowd just standing around (how are they excited to just stand around in the cold, barely able to move to go take a piss?), lackluster band performances I don’t care about, and the ball drop itself is somehow manufactured to be the most dull thing. However, my normal bedtime is 2am so I’d be up regardless of what I was doing tonight.
I would almost say the opposite to the OP; that its a bigger deal today. When I was a kid you could count the cities who had “big deal celebrations” on maybe one hand. New York, I want to say Miami and maybe a couple West Coast cities. These days almost every burgh seems to have some kind of First Night/New Years celebration and a lot of fire works displays. A couple years back I was in the Red Roof in Plains PA for New Years and around midnight I could watch all the various displays down the Valley as all the little town “lit off”.
I turned down two invites to parties being held tonight. I’m usually up for a party with friends, but I’m just not a NYE person. I’m with Shakes on this-- too many amateurs out there.
You guys are all old. We do something every NYE, even if it’s just hanging out at home, listening to music and drinking really good Champagne. We’re having friends over this year for dinner, music, and Champagne. Other years we head downtown, or to a friend’s party. There’s always something going on.
I agree. There are lots of events, lots of people going to bars and shows, and (as always) lots of people having small get-togethers with friends.
The one respect in which things have changed is that attitudes toward excessive drinking and (especially) drinking and driving have changed. There are fewer drunken blowouts and fewer people waking up the next morning with the stereotypical ice pack on their head. And that’s a good thing.
And what will Freddy be doing? Ah, nothing. Freddy has bronchitis and is taking an extremely powerful cough medicine which (a) can’t be mixed with alcohol and (b) will probably put him to sleep by 10:00.
The other thing about NYE parties is that you’re pretty much obligated to stay until Midnight, at least. If I’m getting antsy at a party, I want to be able to duck out without feeling rude.
My ideal NYE party wouldn’t start until about 10:30 PM with a nice dinner, champagne toast at midnight (which would roughly be at the end of dinner) and then everyone does whatever they want.
I’m glad I am not the only wet blanket out there. We are possibly going to have inclement weather tonight, Uber is going to be very expensive, and it’s a no-refusal night with the police, w/r/t DUIs.
My roommate is going to my old roommate’s place because he lives within walking distance of the bars, but like some of you have said, it’s amateur night. I don’t want to wait 20 minutes for a watered down bourbon and coke. Also, I’d rather sleep in my own bed than crash on a couch.
Another friend is having a small get-together, but to get home, I’d have to drive past a large group of bars, so I’m sure the cops will be out in full effect. I would drink moderately, but I’d still be worried that I might go over the limit.
The boyfriend was going to have some friends come down and go to some trashy bars. The plan was for that group to do their thing, and then he’d come over after. However, due to the weather, they don’t want to risk driving down and being stuck here on 1/1.
Now he wants us to go to a co-worker’s place and drink there, but I’d really just be content with him doing that and me relaxing at home until he decides to come over. I feel anti-social, but it’s just that tonight seems like more of a hassle than it is worth. Now, on any given weekend, I’ll be up for painting the town red.
I will be hosting a smallish party, with a couple of sibs and their respective spouses and whoever else shows up. We’ll drink and play video games and music. If last year is any indication, I will make it till midnight and I will be stepping over bodies until 2pm or so tomorrow. There will be a mass trip to Denny’s.
