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Just another year

December 31, 2002 ~ 10:14 p.m.

Tonight I went to see my good buddy of 14 years, Giovanni. Of course, I call him John.

As the New Year of 2003 clocked in across England, we drooled over the news-anchor babes on Fox News, listened to military experts discussing the impending confrontation with Saddam, talked in full agreement about what a group of ungrateful bores Gerhard Schroeder's Germany is, and booed James Carville on �Crossfire.�

In other words, an evening well spent.

We also marveled at the drunks and touristy airheads converging upon Times Square for New Year�s celebrations.

�What a bunch of fucking idiots,� John said. �I wouldn�t go to Times Square if there were only ten people there, never mind half-a-million.�

Now the sight of South Carolinians sporting wooly hats with �NYC� embroidered on them is just about as tacky as they come. But why on earth would anybody � city native or not � stand about in the misty cold, engaging in copious alcohol consumption thus ensuring that when time comes for the ball to drop, they�ll be shivering uncontrollably, and singing �Auld Lang Syne� amongst a bunch of strangers whose belches will be more remembered than their names?

Honest to God. It takes a special kind of person to engage in New Year�s celebrations of any kind, never mind waiting around for a fucking disco ball to drop to commence another, totally arbitrary measure of time? Listen to me, Lord Jesus in Heaven, it�s time for your much-anticipated Second Coming to take these people out of their psychotically extroverted misery.

The best New Year�s Eves are spent at home with a little family around you. Tonight, I�m in the company of my Mom and Dad. Come midnight, I will engage in a round of �cheers� with them, have a glass of champagne, and then go to sleep. It�s only another year.

But, before you go throwing darts at me, I do believe in a time of renewal. Of resolutions. Of good intentions. Of the hope for peace and prosperity. Just because I am not about to waste the evening amongst the company of strangers who wouldn�t give a damn about me until next New Year�s Eve doesn�t mean the spirit of New Year�s is totally lost on me. The year might bring some memorable news headlines, a military, political and spiritual vindication for America, championship banners for the Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox, a long and very hot summer (oh please!), vacations in France and possibly Canada for the wife and I, and pay raises at work pour moi.

2002 wasn�t a bad year at all. It brought its fair share of stumbles and frustrations, but also plenty of happiness. It was just like any other year. And so will 2003 be. Just another year. Not a negative statement, just a true one.

� M.E.M.

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Copyright � 2001-2007 by M.E. Manning. All material is written by me, unless explicitly stated otherwise by use of footnotes or bylines. Do not copy or redistribute without my permission.

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