Is New Year's Eve the Worst Holiday?

RICOCHET

As a kid, New Year’s Eve fascinated me. It was a night when grown-ups dressed up, drank fancy cocktails and danced across ballroom floors. Granted, my parents only went out a time or two, but I had seen the movies. Most adults had the times of their lives and I couldn’t wait to join them.

Once I hit drinking age, I spent several New Year’s Eves at college bars or block parties trying to join the excitement. I rarely found any. Most the celebrations were overcrowded nightmares of sweaty throngs and queasy drinkers. Hardly the tuxedo-clad soirees I had imagined as a lad.

Eventually I figured out why I didn’t care for New Year's celebrations: They are filled with people who say "WOOO!" I don't like being in places where people say "WOOO!" The revelers aren’t actually having fun, but trying to convince everyone around them that they’re having fun.

Like a weekend in Las Vegas, most NYE revelers are trying to force themselves to have a good time and failing. And what are we even celebrating? An arbitrary hour on an arbitrary calendar first accepted in the U.S. in 1752. There aren’t even any presents.

Tonight I’ll enjoy another quiet evening in, playing board games with the family and watching queasy drinkers shout “WOOO!” on the TV. I’m confident that many readers will roll their eyes at grumpy introverts like me and enjoy far more exciting celebrations. What do you think: Is New Year’s Eve overrated or do you have an evening planned that will change my mind?

New Year's image via Shutterstock.

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