It is my humble opinion that New Year’s Eve is the most overrated, overpriced, over-hyped and over-marketed holiday. It’s loud, chaotic and messy, and most of all, it is expensive. It is so expensive that it almost feels like a scam.
When I was younger I felt this irrational pressure to go out and celebrate New Year’s Eve just because the whole world was doing it. If I didn’t take part in all the forced festivities, I would feel left out, and as we used to say in those days, “uncool”.
So I would put on my best dress and party shoes, and head on out into the noise and the crowd, jostling and pushing, trying my damn best to have a good time. Thinking back now, I don’t remember ever enjoying a New Year’s Eve celebration. It was always too loud and too crowded, the atmosphere was always sub-par and the drinks were always overpriced and never cold enough.
These days I stay at home with my pets and it makes me ever so glad. I can hear in the distance the traffic, the crowd, the loud music and the fireworks and it makes me even more grateful and content that I am indoors, safe and comfortable in my own private space.
It could just be me getting older, but New Year’s Eve has always felt forced to me. The amount of effort that it takes to celebrate just another night. You need to make a booking way in advance for a set menu dinner that you don't even particularly enjoy and a party after – at incredibly exorbitant prices that would be better off spent elsewhere.
You’ve got to get your hair done, your makeup done, and the perfect outfit, and then you’ve got to sit in traffic for hours before reaching your dinner destination. The last point is always proven to be true – here where I am, the traffic jam has escalated to the point of madness.
Streets are chockablock with cars, trucks and bikes trying
to get to wherever they are going. It's so jammed that even bikes are having trouble getting through! Everyone is sitting patiently in their
vehicle trying to get from point A to B, happy to be crawling forward a few
inches every few minutes.
Everything is full, every restaurant, hotel room and villa is booked out. A 10-minute journey is now 30 minutes and if you’re feeling unwell or need to be within close vicinity of the bathroom, my suggestion is to just stay put and avoid venturing out at all costs.
And still, everyone else is happily getting into cars to head off to some distant venue for some promised fun. The next day, we wake up and everything remains the same, albeit a few hundred dollars poorer from all the “fun” we had the night before. The rationale escapes me and I am wondering if these party-goers are sane, or is it me who is insane for not wanting to take part in one of the world’s biggest nights out?
It is in my humble opinion, a farce and I’ll stick to my opinion till something or someone proves me otherwise.
But that’s just me, and I suppose I am the weird one out. So Happy New Year everyone, enjoy your night out and the crowds, the traffic and the noise, and see you in 2023.
Diana Abd is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav.
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