New Yorkers, Tourists Shred Their Forgettable Pasts At Good Riddance Day
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An industrial-size shredder was busy Sunday eating up grievances from 2014 and spitting them out.
As part of the eighth annual Good Riddance Day hosted by the Times Square Alliance, locals and tourists submitted documents symbolizing what they'd like to leave in the past when we ring in 2015.
"People shred everything from very serious things -- they say goodbye to cancer, goodbye to the violence of the last few weeks in New York City," Tim Tompkins, Times Square Alliance's president, told 1010 WINS' Kevin Rincon. "But sometimes they say fun things, like, 'Here's this picture of this person that I went on a really bad date with.'"
Karen Pfeirff, of Maryland, shredded away the word "Cancer," which she told CBS2's Ilana Gold is taking a dramatic toll on her family.
"Right now, my husband's brother, mother and father are battling cancer and fighting for their lives," she said. "And as I put it in there, I felt a breath of hope. I really did. It felt like yes, we can do this."
Most of the people weren't just shedding documents; they were shredding parts of their lives they'd like to change or get rid of.
"I'm planning to get rid of long work hours and trying to reduce my hours so I can spend more time with my family," one woman said.
"I'm going to say goodbye to couch days," another woman told WCBS 880's Monica Miller. "Going to every day be active at least."
"I want to shred the stress and anxiety out of my life," said Lorraine Murray.
Rudolph Masseus, of Brooklyn, kissed his problems goodbye.
"I probably set a record. The truck might be tilted behind me," he said.
Masseus threw out bags full of clutter from his mother's house.
"You have a lot of stuff, you know how moms are," he said.
A common theme many New Yorkers and tourists wanted to share and shred was dealing with relationships.
Maja from Norway fit a lot on her piece of paper: "Crappy ex-boyfriends. The feeling of not being good enough. And friends that I lost."
Tax returns, pink slips and rejection letters also made it into the pile.
But it wasn't all about the past. There were a lot of people using the day to think about the future and writing well wishes for 2015.
"I wished to lose weight," said Fahrana Zeman, of Toronto, Canada.
"I'm wishing for more patience, more kindness and increased generosity," said Lawrence Paolella.
The wishes are then used as confetti on New Year' Eve and will fall from the rooftops in Times Square at midnight.
"You'll be able to catch someone's wish in your hand," Tompkins said.
Wishes that many want to come true as they start 2015 on a positive note.
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