Was It Really Just Another New Year's Eve?

Remember that song from Dan Fogelberg 'Same Auld Lang Syne?' It's one of my favorite songs to listen to during the holiday season, but many argue that it's not a holiday song. Well, the story line does occur on New Year's Eve, right?

Normally New Year's Eve is a big deal for those of us in the radio and mobile DJ industry. I remember back in the 80s we had some really fun parties at local clubs. When the drinking age jumped up from 18 to 21, the attendance at our New Year's Eve events shrunk a bit.

Over time, drinking laws got tougher and the liability issues became stricter (understandably), so hosting large New Year's Eve parties fell to the wayside. We also noticed more and more people were opting to stay home.

As a mobile DJ, I used to host New Year's Eve parties at a private school where the kids lived on campus, and that was always a fun time, but eventually the school closed down due to declining attendance.

So, most of my past New Year's Eve celebrations have been either heading home to visit my siblings for a get together or just staying at home watching whatever was on television, waiting for the ball to drop in Times Square.

This year, I didn't even make it that far. I don't know exactly why, but I packed it in at 9:30 on New Year's Eve. I figured if I woke up just before midnight, I'd turn on the television and watch as 2020 would thankfully go away and 2021 would arrive with a promise of a better year for all of us. Well, I woke up around 2:30 a.m., realized I had slept way past midnight, and went back to sleep.

And that's how I ended 2020. I think it's the first time since I was a small child that I haven't been awake at midnight to greet the new year. Oh well, there's always next New Year's Eve.