Keller @ Large: How To Avoid Disappointment On New Year's Eve
BOSTON (CBS) - This is our last morning visit of the year, and you know what that means - New Year's Eve is right around the corner. So let's talk about what might be the most over-hyped celebratory event on the calendar.
When you're a kid, the very concept of a New Year beginning seems exotic and exciting. Remember the first time you heard somebody on the last day of school before Christmas break say: "See you next year"? And the first time you were allowed to stay up to watch the ball drop in Times Square? That's when you knew you were on your way to being a grownup.
Then come the teen years, and after a few dud parties spent sitting around staring at your friends and waiting for something extra special to happen that never does, it starts to dawn on you that maybe New Year's Eve isn't all it's cracked up to be.
As you get older, this impression may be reinforced by the sight of people using the occasion as an excuse to binge-drink, with all of the unpleasant repercussions that inevitably follow. Many a New Year's Day has been ruined as a result.
While I respect the fact that many people enjoy large public New Year's celebrations like First Night, the combination of crowds and cold has never been my thing. And as you get a bit older, the allure of staying up past midnight fades.
So for me, the ideal New Year's Eve has become a relatively-early dinner with a few friends, then home to let the dog out, call my kids to wish them happy New Year, and hoist a final toast with my wife. So enjoy ringing in the New Year, but don't ring me at midnight or anywhere close to it. The phone will be turned off.
Share your New Year's plans with me via email at keller@wbztv.com, or you can reach me on Twitter, @kelleratlarge.
