My Issue With New Year's
Warning: This is going to be a bit of a “negative” post. I am just expressing my opinions, I am not mad particularly at one person. But if you don’t feel like reading about my whining, I suggest moving on. Thanks :)
“Happy New Year!”
Whenever I hear that, something bothers me. My body gets the feeling of having had someone shout an extremely offensive slur to your face.
From what I know about New Year’s celebrations, you often end up with people being drunk. It’s especially bad because New Year’s Day is actually the Deadliest Day of the Year because nobody goes to hospitals or they are understaffed.
It is sort of like how I am not a fan of July 4th either. Even if we did actually acknowledge the day the declaration was signed (July 2nd), people still end up being jerks, lighting fireworks when I want to go to sleep.
People being drunk is one thing, but that is still not my main issue with the holiday. It is that, in my opinion, I really could not care less.
Why Not To Care About The Day
Okay, so clock struck midnight. Great. For some people, you still have to get up in about six hours for work. Your salary still hasn’t changed. The political leaders are still the same (unless you are the new mayor of New York being sworn in), your food prices aren’t changing in a break from the current trend, you aren’t getting any younger, the days still move just as slowly (or fast, depending on how you look at it), all the problems and responsibilities that you deal with on a daily basis have not suddenly disappeared.
You know how “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” does a skit on the first day of the show each month, where they catch every news anchor saying “Wow! $month! Can you believe it???”, and it is hilarious because literally yesterday was the last day of the year, and obviously what follows next is the first day of the first month, yet literally nothing really changed, and who cares? That same idea applies here to me.
“But it’s the start of a new year! Clean slate! No mistakes!”
Nothing is changing because you aren’t going to change. New Year’s Resolutions are pointless, and it feels like only now are people finally realizing that because I am hearing it less often than ten years ago.
Also, the only way you will actually change is if you put in the work. And let’s be real, you won’t.
“We can forget about all the bad things that happened last year and leave it behind.
You really think that time is not an infinitely continuous… actually how do we describe time without using the word time?
(Excuse me.)
You really think that time is like a long graham cracker, where each break marks the end of a year in the calendar, and suddenly everything on the big graham cracker section before (like any germs or mold that may have grown on it) simply does not matter anymore? And that section can be thrown away? It doesn’t matter anymore?
It still matters. That one person who you tried to apologize to, but didn’t accept your apology is not going to suddenly accept it now. Things still happen. Time is continuous, and what happens in the past impacts the present, and subsequently, the future.
And if you are thinking about bad habits, or behavior, or things that annoy you, they simply will not disappear in a magical poof. The same bad actors will still be bad. It is not the great reset. Speaking of a “reset”, the idea of the “Great Meme Reset of 2026” will only work if we all do our part.
What It Really Is
What is really happening, because I think it is so easy to forget behind all the commercialization, is that this huge rock we stand on called “Earth” completed what’s called an “orbit” around the Sun. I hope you remember what the Sun is from elementary school. Technically, it is not the exact precise spot, because there is some misalignment in our calendar system, but essentially we completed a circular-shaped path around the Sun and we will do it again. Yay!
But of course, nobody cares about admiring how cool space is. I want to watch a big ball, that is actually pretty small (this year being 12.5 feet, but it was only 5 feet), slide down a barely visible pole at the top of One Times Square at midnight, with a bunch of people screaming, with human waste in their diapers, and a bunch of confetti falling in the sky while everyone hugs and kisses each other to Auld Lang Syne, like World War II ended again.
January 2, 2026 insertion: The point of why standing in Times Square on NYE is ridiculous cannot be expressed better by anyone but MoistCr1TiKaL/penguinz0 - if you still think it is worth it, see this video. However, from what I saw in an Instagram reel, which I did not consider, was watching from inside an office building. That is probably the only reason you should ever go to Times Square on NYE - it gives you an opportunity to hang out with coworkers and family while staying warm. Good luck getting home, but, it’s better than just standing outside.
As I just proved, it is really not that deep. All this happening while people keep shouting “HAPPY NEW YEAR!” in your face. Like, “New Year”. Cool. Year is new. Nice to acknowledge. “Happy!” - like I am supposed to suddenly feel joy? What about people who are going through serious struggles and cannot feel happy right now? And if you are in an urban area, or around people who have fireworks, good luck trying to sleep. Fireworks are already problematic as is - potentially triggering to those with PTSD, scary, sounding like gunshots, and bad for the environment, but how loud it is can be infuriating and make it hard to sleep. How can I be “happy”?
Commercialization
Where I live, we only care about Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rocking Eve celebration on ABC, or really wherever you can watch the Times Square event happening on TV. It is so great watching everyone count down, ten seconds to January 1st, while the actual clock was already on January 1st because of the TV transmission delay. You all are so stupid, it’s hilarious.
Now, brands are always making it about celebrating the big new year. Which I think is really only mental gymnastics. If you took off the ball drop from TV, and took away all the parties, the holiday would mean nothing.
Of course, for big companies, any holiday or excuse to make people buy their stuff is a win. and now we have this cycle where everyone feels like they HAVE to do something for the day. People will believe you are crazy and delusional, like me, for disputing the (lack of) significance the day has. There is no respect for people who just want to keep their sleep schedule. Heck, its so bad that parents of young children need fake countdowns to get their kids to sleep.
On Instagram, I see a lot of EDM concert posts. “EDM Concert, playing the last drop of Zedd - Clarity EXACTLY at 00:00!”. And like, okay? Unless you really hate the year number itself (which honestly, this year is kind of sad to say goodbye to the mathematical coolness of 2025), once again, nothing is changing. You can literally do a countdown celebration drop for literally anything. I’m not sure what other date-specific events it would be, but you get the idea.
Celebrations
What is nice at least, is having everyone come together. (NOT in Times Square, you people are crazy - I’m talking about at parties or gatherings). It extends the holiday break. So, since New Year’s Resolutions are a nothing-burger, and the ball drop is lame, what else can we do, especially for those who do not feel like throwing an insane party?
First, if you kept watching the celebration, you notice another one hour countdown clock. Shockingly, more places in the United States exist outside the Eastern Timezone and they have their own parties too! New Orleans has a music concert at Jackson Square (which honestly appears to be a vibe), there are some people who watch Endgame and time it so the Thanos snap lines up at midnight, there are tons of other weird traditions you can do.
If you exit the US, you can find international traditions. Apparently in some countries, there is this race around the block with a suitcase. Sure, I guess, that sounds fun. As soon as the clock hits midnight, do a race. I can imagine someone maybe doing a tennis or pickleball serve, or a relay race, all of these are more fun than watching the ball drop, or a pineapple drop, or a music note (Nashville), or whatever weird thing.
Or, you can do what I do. Enjoy not really caring that much, or enjoy watching the other things around the world or with the clock. Not often do you get to stay up to watch the clock turn to midnight or 00:00, let alone any other day or month transition as it happens. Or you can pull up a world time map and watch as different countries enter the new year. It is pretty cool to think that when you wake up, some people may already be in January.
What is also cool is the the billboard in LA about smoke deaths each year. It just counts up, but it resets at midnight on Jan 1. So it resets to zero, and that is the BEST celebration out there. Even better than the ball drop. THIS is a proper celebration. No stupidity, just celebrating something that actually makes sense to celebrate - nobody died from smoking so far this year! Yay! People are healthy and alive! (Not really but it’s funny.)
There are some streamers on Twitch I like to watch, literally only on New Year’s. I don’t watch them anytime else, it’s just my own tradition to say hello.
This year, I actually watched Sydney’s fireworks and lights celebration. Aside from the fireworks being loud, the electronic music played on the live stream was fun. The bridge was lit up, there were lights, it was a lot of fun, and people just quietly sat back from the side and watched the show without resorting to being stupid. Again, if it wasn’t for the fireworks, I would consider going. (Why can’t we adopt drone shows?)
All of these are not ridiculous, not disturbing, but fun, and chill. And I am not pressing “happy new year” to everybody, expecting them to be happy, or have the sudden turn of a new page. I am just watching the time pass. And it works for me.
Closing Thoughts
New Year’s doesn’t quite excite me, and even if it did, we are all approaching it from the wrong perspective, in my opinion. I really hate the “Happy New Year” saying - let’s just acknowledge that the day has changed, and move on. And if we want to make the new year good, let’s actually do some change. Let’s make it so there can be a difference in the year that makes the difference between 2025 and 2026 more notable than just “2025 was perceived to not be as bad as 2026”. But we cannot do that, as long as we are popping the champagne, telling everybody “BE HAPPY RIGHT NOW!”, and making a big deal over something that is so little.
So, I will close with this as my goodbye phrase for the day:
Happy holidays, and take care.
(1,815 words - if only I put this much effort into the more important things in life..)