So a new year, full of promise and potential has begun, and like the mythical Phoenix we are free to rise up from the ashes of the old and start our lives anew.
Or, you know, we could just do the same old stuff we’ve been doing.
Either way.
So far 2006 isn’t looking much different from 2005, but it’s early yet, so I suppose I shouldn’t jump to any conclusions.
For me the year began with the sound of my cell phone ringing a bit after midnight.
I knew immediately that it must be Kevin, as no one else ever calls me in the middle of the night when I have to work in the morning.
I didn’t answer it.
It’s not that I didn’t want to talk to him so much as I did want to sleep.
When I checked my voicemail I found that he had simply said, “Happy New Year’s, Jon.”
So while I appreciate the sentiment, once again the timing was a bit off. I do apologize for not answering, but I think that will remain my policy when it comes to late-night calls on work nights.
As soon as I began to drift back to sleep I was forced awake by the sound of some drunk chick in the parking lot staggering around clumsily in her high heels and talking to her companions just as quietly as a drunk chick is able to talk, which, of course, is not very quietly at all.
After she went away I was once again thrust into wakefulness by the sound of someone setting off fireworks.
Eventually, thinking, “It’s New Year’s, not the Fourth of July,” I did get back to sleep, and now here I am at work, where Brian and I are manning the desk minus our boss and co-workers.
Of course, Brian is only here for half the day, at which point Chip, one of our co-workers who took the day off, will come in order to allow Brian to leave early.
As for me, I’m here all day.
Given how much I’m getting paid to be here all day I can’t really complain, and it’s not like I have any particular reason to leave early, or had a reason to come in late.
At this point it’s actually been six years since I’ve done anything to celebrate the coming of the New Year.
That celebration – on the eve of Y2K – was rather subdued, and ultimately disappointing, as, for one thing, I actually was kind of hoping that the world really was going to come to an end, but early on in the day it was already established that it wasn’t, thanks to those spoilsports on the other side of the International Date Line.
Beyond that, though, it was pretty much like any other night out at the bar for me, albeit slightly more crowded than usual.
At the time I was living in Minnesota, and I had a friend who tended bar at my regular hangout. After his shift ended we headed over to the Wisconsin side of the border, where bars were able to stay open later.
On New Year’s, though, they were allowed to stay open even later than usual. One bar in particular was able to stay open all night on the condition that after 2 am you couldn’t leave and come back in again.
We drove past that bar, looked at how packed the parking lot was, and decided to head over to the strip club instead.
The strip club was incredibly dead, and we ended up spending the next several hours just hanging out and talking to some of the dancers and one of the bouncers.
And that was pretty much how my last big celebration of the New Year ended.
Given that I rarely do much of anything to even acknowledge the onset of a new year, it should come as no surprise that I’m not big on making resolutions.
I don’t really see the point. After all, if I’m going to do something (or not do something), then I’ll just do it (or not do it) regardless of whether or not it’s a new year.
And who would I make a resolution to? Myself? If that’s the case, what’s the payoff if I keep my resolution? What’s the penalty if I don’t?
Still, in the spirit of the New Year I think I’ll go ahead and make a resolution for 2006 anyway. Here it is: I resolve to spend another year alone.
I figure this is a win-win resolution. After all, odds are by the time 2007 rolls around I’ll still be alone, so I’ll at least have lived up to my resolution, and if I fail to keep my resolution, I won’t be alone anymore.
It’s the perfect resolution. It’s just like me giving up sex for Lent.
In any case, I suppose that there are other things I could be doing (like work), so I suppose that will do it for now.
I hope all of you out there are able to come up with some easy resolutions of your own.
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