I think it’s 2010. Might as well Sunday Jam, too.

So I went to this big gala with Gee last night. This was the first new year’s where I actually spent more than the cost of a six pack of beer or a bottle of wine. We bought tickets – they came to $91 each, it was a fundraiser for MS, it was at a beautiful restaurant on Kits Beach, there was going to be a red carpet entrance. I had a new dress. Our night had all the makings of something quite memorable to end 2009. 

Gee came over around 8:30 PM so we could have enough time to give ourselves the thrice-over, make sure our hair was nice, we smelled pretty, and generally give ourselves time to get excited. We cabbed it ($15 each) to the location and met Mandy and a couple of her friends at the red carpet. 

We head up the stairs to an otherwise vacant dining area. It was still early, there was plenty of time for the anticipated 300+ crowd to file in. We stood about; wandering from corner to corner. Eventually the room was busy with patrons excited to be ringing in a new year.

The hors d’œuvres came out. 

Gee and I were starving having forgotten to eat a proper dinner. What I found particularly interesting is the moment the sushi, ham-wrapped asparagus, and crab cakes hit the table it was instantly surrounded by women. I suppose there’s this kind of stereotype we almost give ourselves when eating in a public place that there’s this level of self-consciousness that sets in first. Men don’t care, if there’s food, and they’re hungry, they eat. Here we all were, dressed in our party-wear for this big, fussy gala, and the women were swarming the food like seagulls at a landfill.

It didn’t take long to notice the first fatal flaw of the evening. There was not a single garbage bin in sight. Toothpicks, discarded half-eaten sushi, skewer sticks, and napkins started piling up on any available surface. This bothered me. I didn’t want to be paying for a $91 ticket only to be sitting among sticky napkins. I approached one of the bar staff to let him know and he was about as surprised as we were. He did some speaking to various coworkers and eventually a bus boy was placing a green garbage bag into a bin. And, that was it for the garbage bin. One garbage bin for 300+ people. Garbage, FAIL.

I distinctly remember watching a short Quicktime video on the event’s website highlighting last year’s party where I know a saxophonist was there. 

Or was he?

There was no saxophonist at this year’s event. 

Maybe it was a highlight from another event and they were trying to look cool by showing him in this cleverly spliced video to draw more attention? False advertising, FAIL.

Gee and I eventually made it to the bar for our second glass of red. We were told during the first round that they had two house reds available – Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. We both opted for the CS first time around. $17 total. But, when Gee decided this time she was going to get the Merlot we arranged that I’d get this round, she could get the next. “Nineteen twenty, please.” The bartender had my $20 bill before it registered that the total was now over two dollars more than it was the first time around. So I asked her. And she printed the bill. And the house Merlot was more than the Cabernet Sauvignon. Inconsistent house wine pricing at a big event, FAIL.

I remember at around 11:00 PM we could overhear groups talking about it almost being midnight, us included. We mingled in wait and lost track of time for that hour as we got lost in people-watching, eating, and drinking. If it weren’t for my cell phone vibrating in my purse at 11:58 I would have never realised it was two minutes away from the end of a decade. The anticipation built and before we knew it it was 12:02 AM and a new year had begun. The music didn’t stop, there was no announcement, the song didn’t even skip a beat. We looked at each other and then at the people around us. Clusters of people initiated their own countdown and eventually the crowd rang in the new year completely confused. I’ve had a more climactic entrance to a new year in my grandparents’ parlor watching Dick Clark’s countdown.

We were all feeling very strange. It was the first New Year’s Eve were there was no acknowledgement of the midnight hour. My body suddenly became very vacant feeling as I began to add up my expenses of the evening. I had spent well over $100 to hang out at a restaurant decorated like Christmas and eat hors d’œuvres. It was really like had there been a countdown, something to distinguish this particular night from every other night, it would have been okay. The lack of garbage bins, the inconsistent wine pricing, all of those things would have been okay if we had actually felt like we were there for a big New Year’s party. But, we were feeling completely ripped off. There wasn’t even an ounce of free champagne in those cheap, stout champagne glasses available. A $91 ticket to eat hors d’œuvres while standing?

At about 12:30 AM the room was getting noticeably more empty. All who remained on the dance floor were the ones who had spent big bucks on the inconsistently priced house wine. They were in their bare feet and most likely well past the point of even remembering if we had counted down or not. Well past the point of even caring. 

Then someone turned on the lights in the room and they didn’t go off until about 15 minutes later. The room was lit up, bright as day, highlighting the faces of all the patrons who were still trying to find consolation in the anticlimactic launch of a new year.

The lights finally went off and come 1:00 AM the room was about 3/4 empty. We left about 5 minutes later. 

New Year’s Eve 2010 FAIL.

We took some fun photos though…

But first… Sunday Jammin’ Music on Friday this time. Two of my favourites right here.

Makin’ Whoopee – Dr. John and Rickie Lee Jones

Tags: 2010, New Year's Eve 2010, NYE

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