NYE in Time's Squre (Alternative Title: WTF were we thinking?)

Being from the Midwest, I always thought that spending NYE in Time's Square would be so awesome! Such an experience! I thought that I would always just watch it on TV. Well, now that we live in Jersey, we thought hey! We have no plans! Let's go to Time's Square on NYE! No kids yet! Perfect timing!

Wrong.

We got on the 12:07pm train to NYC. We arrived in NYC around 1:30. I thought...hey, plenty of time to get a good spot. We started our usual 15 minute walk from Penn Station to Time's Square. About a block away, the police were redirecting people. So, we had to go down a block to continue going toward Time's Square. There were a LOT of people on the sidewalks - much more than usual. So, we take the incredibly long detour to get near Time's Square. We stand in front of a barricade with a few other people. Not long after, more people starting standing behind and next to us. Eventually, we were in THIS crowd.

And that crowd was pushy. Literally, pushing. I almost fell over a few times. Sean said he had never been more afraid of being trampled. And it was a real possibility. The police were yelling not to push, but of course no one was listening. The only entertaining part were some pigeons shitting on the people below.

Eventually, they set up an entry way. Everyone had to be checked. No back packs were allowed in. And of course, EVERYONE around us had back packs. We eventually got in the pit. And we were excited!

And then the people around us became huge assholes. A lot of people sat down, because...they wanted to take up more room? The longer we stood, the more annoyed we became. We got in to the pit around 3 or 330. Eventually, some entertainment started. And by entertainment, I mean some Spanish guy who sang the same 2 songs (in Spanish) 3 times each. And I don't mean someone in the crowd...it was someone who was on the stage (which we couldn't see). Then, they started playing general music. The people in front of us were sitting. The people behind us were pushing. The German guy next to me kept jumping and pushing me. Sean's face below is a pretty accurate depiction of how we felt.

At 6, Sean and I decided to leave. We didn't have it in us. Our backs and feet were hurting. We figured instead of standing for the next 6 hours near some jerks we'd go home and ring in the new year with Tank. And that's what we did. Before we left though, we did get to see the rising of the ball.

Happy New Year! I'm hoping 2012 will bring Sean and I much needed good fortune & luck. There are a few things I hope will happen - but am not ready to talk about just yet :) I am excited to get semester 2 & 3 (out of 4) of grad school done. I'm excited to visit home in March. And I'm excited to celebrate my one year wedding anniversary in June. And I, of course, am excited to continue writing on this blog.