“5…4…3…2…1… HAPPY NEW YEAR!” I shout every year into the TV while in the comfort of mine or someone else’s home. Here I am free to lounge in my sweatpants and tee shirt in the dead of winter and not be freezing or judged. When the weather outside is frightful, I cannot even think about spending long hours outside in the frigidness. For that reason, I cannot fathom why people would want to spend New Year’s Eve at Times Square in New York City.
New York City, one of the most beloved cities in the world, has much to do and see. Being that I lived all of my life only 21 miles away from it, I have spent a lot of time there. I have learned many things about the city, such as how to travel by train and subway; discovering how savory a hot, salty pretzel is from a random street vender; and how to avoid getting hit by a taxi. One of the biggest and most valuable tips I have ever received from my mother is to never attend Times Square for the glorified ball drop, but I always wondered why.
Image: Mic.com
To someone observing Times Square on television or in pictures, it does seem rather captivating. The bright lights, the ambience of New York City, what could be better than that? Well, your own home. Personally, being pushed against strangers and not having enough room to breathe is not a situation I would make an effort to be in.
Last year a few days after Christmas, I went to visit the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree for the first time. I was so excited to take Instagram-worthy pictures and mentally take in the aesthetics of the tree. Wowzas, was it crowded! My friend and I tried walking down a block on the opposite side of the tree, and it took about a half hour to get from one corner to the other. Try to picture a claustrophobic and panicking Lexie, trying to clutch her purse and all of her pockets at the same time to protect herself from getting pick-pocketed. I genuinely thought I was going to die. Needless to say, that was my first and last time visiting the tree during Christmas time.
Not so instagram-worthy, SnapChat photo of the Rockefeller Tree.
If I couldn’t handle the crowd by the tree, I would without a doubt have a myocardial infarction at Times Square on New Year’s Eve. In addition to the crowds, it is freezing in the city in December and January. So, unless you plan on wearing five layers of pants, you will surely freeze your tush off.
Hundreds of thousands of people are at Times Square, yet there are no public restrooms. People wear diapers because of the long hours they must endure without relieving themselves. Jeez, you had me at, “no restrooms!” Yeah, you might run into Ryan Seacrest, but I’d rather be able to urinate at my own leisure in peace.
Can you imagine trying to leave this hellish nightmare? All those hundreds of thousands of people trying to pack into subways and go home at once is probably like sharing a cup of coffee with the devil himself: Hell.
In short, I plan to avoid Times Square on New Year’s Eve like the plague. I will continue to spend the night in my home or with my friends and family watching the ball drop on television. More importantly, with the bathroom right at my fingertips!
I agree with this post more than you know. I never understood why people would want to wear diapers and freeze their butts off just to see a ball drop. The place for me is cozy in my own home. This blog post had me cracking up the whole time and I can’t wait to read another one next week.
For someone who also lives fairly close to the city, I totally agree. I love NYC, but it would be way too much to be there on New Years Eve. I really like your humor and style in this blog, keep up the good work.
I think this is so funny. I love Christmas time, and so does my mom, so for an early graduation present, she took me to New York City last November to see the Christmas lights. This was before it was actually Christmas time and it was still so crazy! My mom loved it, except for the amount of people. It just involves too much walking for me and too cold of temperatures at night. However, the charisma of the city is like no other. I love the city so much, so I hope you’re not opposed to it during other times of the year!
You’re so witty, and I love your writings.
Not to be ~that guy~ but I somewhat disagree with you here. Whenever I’m at crowded events, I feel like I can draw off the hype of people around me and become more excited myself. It sounds weird, but I actually love crowded amusement parks because you have a greater sense of anticipation when you’re waiting in line for the popular rides. Although amusement parks do have bathrooms, which I definitely agree would be rough not to have. I think part of the reason I disagree is because I never grew up close enough to a familiar city, so to me, it’s really cool being in environments like that, but to you, it probably lost its novelty a long time ago.
For the most part I agree with this post, I’ve never understood the New Years Eve hype when you can just watch it on tv. I also have always wanted to visit New York during Christmas time at least once, frigid temperatures are something I’m all too used to. Not having public bathrooms kinda freaks me out though. Overall, a really great blog post!