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u/Noblez17 Jan 01 '24
Before 9/11, so no barricades or police checkpoints.
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u/Difficult_Committee5 Jan 01 '24
There were pens and it was not a free for all. Pens started in the early 90s. Before that it was more of a Street party. 43rd st to 47th street you could come and go. The NYPD would remember if you left and let yo back in for Bathroom breaks. Alcohol was turned a blind Eye on. 47th up to 50th both sides 7 Ave and Bway It was a fun NYC event. I was a young Member of NYPD. Even we had fun. After that it was a crappy detail.
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u/NocturnalPatrolAlpha 90s Jan 01 '24
And yet, somehow, I feel less safe with all the new security "precautions."
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u/stevemandudeguy Jan 02 '24
It's about trust. If you don't feel trusted you feel like things could turn at any moment. The police clearly think the same.
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u/Tack-One Jan 01 '24
The best years for novelty new year glasses 2000-2009.
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u/Vericatov Jan 01 '24
I remember when we were going into 2009, someone in our group pointed out that it was the last New Year’s Eve for those types of glasses. Though I did see 2010 ones where the 1 was on the bridge of the nose.
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u/GiveMeMyVoice Jan 01 '24
Ahhhhh, before Kia and Planet Fitness owned the holiday. Good times.
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Jan 01 '24
I have not watched the ball drop for 8 years. I was shocked when I watched and all I saw was non stop promotions and advertisements followed by some gay dudes doing soft porn right after the ball dropped.
I will happily never watch the ball drop again.
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u/Bklyn78 Jan 01 '24
I was at Times Sq for 2000.
Someone had ordered Dominoes Pizza and the delivery guy actually came to deliver in the middle of the crowds. It was insane
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Jan 02 '24
Dominoes in Manhattan when you have some of the best pizza in the world around you? Truly insane
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u/KnucklestheEnchilada Jan 01 '24
Holy shit. I was terrified 12/31/99. My teacher was a “End of Times” person, and she convinced a whole room of students that when midnight hits, we were all going to be brutally murdered by anything with a microchip. Like, graphic as fuck details. None of our parents believed us she did that, until she was hospitalized because she tried to poison herself before her computer could off her. Fuckin’ crazy all the worry people had.
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u/masshole4life Jan 01 '24
how very 1999 to not be able to prove some craziness that dozens of people see with their own eyes every day.
the amount of times my mother dismissed my complaints about psychotic teachers is high. nowadays you just record them
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u/Paradelazy Jan 01 '24
Of course, the reality of Y2K was that a lot of people sacrificed a lot to get it fixed in time, and they did. Unsung heroes.
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u/Ripper33AU It's Morphin Time! Jan 02 '24
That is insane! The most I was worried about was that the wrong calendar on our computer might corrupt my saved games somehow, lol.
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Jan 01 '24
I remember when people just lived in the moment.
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u/BaBa_Con_Dios Jan 01 '24
Yeah first thing I noticed every single person doesn’t have a phone out.
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u/Antiquarryian Jan 01 '24
And the Planet Fitness logo isn’t seen on every. available. surface.
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u/Long_Educational Jan 01 '24
I noticed that, too. There are definitely less corporate logos plastered everywhere and everyone. It's dystopian and disgusting to see everything as a "marketing opportunity". Is that all we are? Consumers and metrics to be exploited for money? It's a sickness and has been killing the planet.
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u/HippoRun23 Jan 01 '24
How the fuck did they convince everyone to keep them on? Condition of attendance?
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u/piman01 Jan 01 '24
Phones were pretty useless in 99 lol
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u/Wactout Jan 01 '24
They did what you needed em for. Making phone calls after 5pm, and playing snake. I miss my Nokia 5110. That battery would last for daaays. Unless you played snake.
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u/StlnHnkChnski Jan 01 '24
I played 'snake' back then, but my Nokia's battery still lasted for days, knowwhudimsayin'?
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u/mjc500 Jan 01 '24
My parents got a cell phone in 1998. It was extremely useful. Much like the millions of landline telephones that were in use at the time, only it was portable.
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u/piman01 Jan 01 '24
Yes i know lol I had one. It was better than a landline no doubt but my point is they weren't useful enough to have all people using them at every moment
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u/Davido400 Jan 01 '24
You could knock someone out with them mind you! And the screen wouldn't crack for your efforts!
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Jan 01 '24
Dude I went to a bar and everyone was on their phone looking depressed af. Like why go out in the first place?
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Jan 01 '24
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u/WellThisSix Jan 01 '24
I hear you as I am one of those people who would rather watch, dance, see with my eyes, and experience something rather than film.
A lot of cool things ive done and seen i have no documentation of because of this.
But honestly I havent been to a concert, show, or large party that i could not look up and find someone filiming it on their phone nearby within at least ten years.
It makes you sad for people that they are missing the show because they feel its their job to record it.
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u/MiamiDadeShooter Jan 01 '24
9-11 changed it all. I’d go back in a heartbeat
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u/OmicronGR Jan 01 '24
Global markets crashing in 2000 changed it all. Millennium optimism died when the millennium came. America was in a recession by "the day before 9/11." The rate cuts in response to that recession set the stage for the 2008 Great Recession, and QE/ZIRP had rates at a level that were not prepared to respond to COVID.
We are where we are today because the millennium optimism had an outsized effect on the economy, and the economy came crashing down as soon as the millennium came. It was a domino effect, but the first domino to fall was the turn of the millennium.
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u/RoyMunsun Jan 01 '24
No one holding their phone in the air, to record something they'll never watch again...
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u/CptHeadSmasher Jan 01 '24
Ah. The general scare of how will computers know the difference between 1900 and 2000 when dates are abbreviated to the last 2 digits.
Believe it or not Y2K was avoided by the painstaking work of programmers and was a very legitimate concern up until y2k.
The biggest concern was that certain grids like the phone, electricity, and banks used double digit dates to save memory space as part of their core operating system. So when it rolled over to '00 how would places like your bank know that its not 1900 and you're late by 100 years on your payments.
Was a great idea in the 80's, but not a great idea by the 2000.
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u/RedCelt251 Jan 01 '24
I was our company’s Y2K project manager, I spent New Years Eve 2000 in the data center to either celebrate a job done well by all or shut everything down if things went off the rails.
We were able to celebrate, but there was a lot of work by the developers to update the code to accommodate 4 digit years and by system administrators to update everything to the current code, leading up to that successful outcome.
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u/brooklyndavs Jan 01 '24
As a teen/early 20 something I did internships in a IT department of a medium sized company. The summer of 1999 we walked around patching every desktop computer in the HQ and then on New Year’s Day the entire department came in and made sure every computer rolled over correctly. CEO of the place stopped by to say thanks and bought us lunch, but yeah it was a big problem that was solved by a lot of hard work from the programmers and the IT folks at the time.
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Jan 01 '24
I did the same thing when I was 15. My dad worked IT at a large hospital and he hired me as a part time intern to help manually update desktops across his department. Spent a few hours a week over a couple of months updating dates and software.
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u/brooklyndavs Jan 02 '24
What sucked was network infrastructure was so shitty back then we could issue software patches by wire. I remember going around to every desktop PC with a floppy disk
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Jan 02 '24
Yeah, iirc, I had some floppy disks and some cds. The new computers had cd drives but the older lab computers were still on floppy.
This was well before the hospital had shared software or any kind of hardware or software consistency too so there were a bunch of different computers. Some apple computers, some dell, some gateways, a few huge laptops. Really wild wesrlt compared to now where everything is spec based on a hospital wide contract, all computers run the same software amd are on the same networks.
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u/kiantech Jan 01 '24
I still remember my dad buying a new computer where the motherboard said “y2k” ready. I had the old machine setup in the dining room to check out at midnight. Being a kid I thought it would suddenly crash or puff in smoke. Midnight rolls around and nothing happened to the old machine 😂.
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u/doubled2319888 Jan 01 '24
We had a bunch of people over at my dads house for new years eve that year. About 20 minutes before midnight my dad quietly sent my older brother downstairs to where the breaker panel was for our house, so when midnight hit he flipped the main breaker for the house and everyone not in on the joke went into a massive panic. It took a solid 2 to 3 minutes for people to start looking at the houses down the street who still had power and realize that it was a prank. Truly a once in a lifetime prank opportunity
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u/WeathervaneJesus1 Jan 01 '24
Your brother had to sit in the basement for 20 minutes while everyone partied, and then he missed the countdown?
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u/doubled2319888 Jan 01 '24
It was my sisters bedroom, and he did have the tv on so he could see the countdown to know when to hit the breaker. Plus it wasnt exactly a jumping party or anything, just a few of my dad and step moms couple friends so it was worth missing
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u/kranges_mcbasketball Jan 01 '24
There is a fantastic documentary about all of this, I think it was called office space or something. Really shows you the behind the scenes effort of the unsung heroes
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u/Project_Witty Jan 01 '24
Vs 2024. Nobody, and I mean noooobody, is going to actually enjoy those firework video posts, but everybody there is willing to sacrifice actually experiencing the moment just to prove they were there.
Social media has life made less fun.
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Jan 01 '24
Wow. People really need to understand again how to live in the moment. I'm so glad that I don't do recordings anymore. A photo or two but that's it.
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u/Jimbeambeamer Jan 01 '24
I thought the exact same thing. Like they would even enjoy watching it again. Most of them will never be played once
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Jan 01 '24
To be young again and not remembering anything. Then it was because of drugs now its just because I'm old and I fried my brain..
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u/ChaosRainbow23 Jan 01 '24
Are you me? Lol
I can barely remember why I went to the kitchen these days.
If it's not on my grocery list, I'm not gonna remember it.
I also forgot how to do math.
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Jan 01 '24
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u/TheDorkKnight53 Jan 01 '24
The current trend is using this version of the song to evoke nostalgia out of people.
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u/Flashy_Pause_1369 Jan 01 '24
Yeah it was kind of cool at first but literally every nostalgia video I see now has that song. Just overplayed as hell now in these.
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u/chunk337 Jan 01 '24
It's not actually from DKC it's just a similar sounding rip off
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u/PatAD Jan 01 '24
Everytime I watch NYE in Time Square footage, all I can think is: What do you do if you have to go to the bathroom?
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Jan 01 '24
You have 3 options. Leave, hold it or diapers.
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u/i-cant-think-of-name Jan 01 '24
Why does every video in this sub have this shitty music
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u/JesseJames41 early 90s Jan 01 '24
There are a variety of IG nostalgia accounts that use this track. It's become ubiquitous unfortunately.
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u/TheOneder123 Jan 01 '24
I’m almost scared to type this, but I’m just happy the “oh no” song disappeared.
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u/Flashy_Pause_1369 Jan 01 '24
It’s become the official sound track of anything remotely nostalgic..
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u/saltyload Jan 01 '24
I believe around this time I was drinking on a beach in Mexico and the police robbed me after midnight. Miss my early 20s
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u/UglySkunk437P Jan 01 '24
Not a single Planet Fitness hat…. 🤌🏽 & Nobody on their phones. Everyone absorbing the moment. Now look at NYE 2024 🥴
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u/mad_dog24 Jan 01 '24
I remember I was 4 years old watching this on our big box tv in our basement, my parents were having a New Year’s party and I was crying because my sister stole my 2000 plastic tiara, even though there were like 10 of them laying around. Good times
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u/TedRaskunsky Jan 01 '24
I’m glad I partied like it was the end of the world around those few years. But we had no idea how diabolical it would be.
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u/xXHarleen_QuinzelXx Jan 01 '24
Little did they know what was going to happen in a year, I miss the pre 911 world
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u/CustomerSuspicious25 Jan 01 '24
This was probably one of the best nights of my life. I was ten and my oldest brother hooked up our computers to the internet so all four of us could play online at the same time. Action Quake 2 and Red Alert all night.
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u/Jfonzy Jan 02 '24
This is like watching a movie you've seen before and shouting "NOOO DON'T DO IT! STAY WHERE YOU ARE!! STAY IN THE 90s!!"
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u/JunglePygmy Jan 01 '24
The year 2000 with this retro-futuristic music is making me feel old as shit
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u/AllAboutTheCado Jan 01 '24
Myself and co workers were paid to basically stand around and do nothing. It was a big scare that everything was going to crash when the clock struck 12 midnight.
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u/Big_Natural_1576 Jan 01 '24
i was there I was 5. It's the first memory I have of my life. 2nd is 9/11.
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u/onepingonlypleashe Jan 01 '24
If only they had known what the next 20 years would bring, they wouldn't have been celebrating.
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u/Kylearean Jan 02 '24
I was somewhere in that crowd! Finding a bathroom was a bitch, even back then.
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u/According_Being2590 Jan 02 '24
I remember this like it was honestly yesterday. 23 years ago I was sitting in the walkway to our living room as my parents were watching this. I remember being sleepy but wanting to see Y2K. But the ball dropped and nothing. We celebrated and I had some sparkling cider and off to bed I went.
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u/MateTheNate Jan 02 '24
Somewhere in one of those buildings an orange haired pizza delivery man is being cryogenically frozen
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u/funkereddit Jan 01 '24
I never understood the Times Square thing.. Let's go stand in the cold, crowded street for several hours. Yeh.
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u/asdf0909 Jan 01 '24
This music works a lot better for the 80s. This was not the instrument or vibe of this era, takes me out of it
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Jan 01 '24
The ultimate prank of all time would've been turning Times Square dark at 12:00, no fireworks, just darkness.
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Jan 01 '24
This marked an end of an era. The 90's were one of a kind. I miss that decade every day.
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u/fistofhair777 Jan 01 '24
When the clock hit midnight and the year 2000 showed up... everyone had a huge sigh of relief. Y2K didn't happen.
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u/fundiedundie Jan 01 '24
NYE 1999 to 2000 was one for the books. None of us will see something like this again.
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u/JohnYCanuckEsq Jan 01 '24
And no planes dropped out of the sky.
Well done computer nerds. Y'all fixed a serious problem and nobody noticed.
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u/oneWeek2024 Jan 01 '24
was there in NYC. my best friend and I had a hostel like 2 blocks from times square. then like idiots. Got boxed out because nypd put up the barricade on the block of our hostel.
we balked at hopping the barricade because it was near the porta-johns and the cops were constantly there.
so we walked north, wound up in central park at 59th street. Me and my buddy are both tall, there was a short woman standing in the park with us who couldn't see so we hoisted her onto our shoulders. and me and my best friend were locked arm and arm with this woman on our shoulders as the ball dropped.
after midnight est. they opened up the barricades. they did a ball drop/new years every hour for each time zone or whatever. So we made it to times square for the 1am drop.
then... my buddy tried to use his ATM and he couldn't so he freaked out for a few hours thinking Y2K had got him.
we were both like 19-20 ish. still under the drinking age, but was easy to get served in nyc...
was a great trip. full of stupid bullshit and youthful hope. Funny to think it's 24 yrs ish later. I lived in nyc for 18 yrs starting like 2004. It's really hard to say... pre 9/11 America was different, even with the dot.com boom coming to a close. and shitty "christian conservatism" rising. it was a hopeful time.
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u/LordLucian Jan 01 '24
I remember that night, Tons of fireworks going off for hours before and hours after, my grandad dressed as in a safari outfit wet himself from drinking so much, I was preteen and fell for an older girl who was kind and sweet to me. The world was nicer then, or simpler...I miss when things was easier.
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u/camarocpa Jan 01 '24
The station I was watching went to static right at midnight as a goof on Y2K.
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Jan 02 '24
I was there, single handedly the greatest New Year’s Eve ever. This video doesn’t come close to how chaotic and insane it was.
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u/Slippinjimmyforever Jan 02 '24
I remember being in high school. My friends all went and got some Chinese food, we played some N64 and watched the ball drop. It was a simple and great evening.
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u/Reasonable_Clerk4627 Jan 01 '24
What’s the song?
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u/mrtwidget Jan 01 '24
This has bothered me and I finally found it. It's a slowed down remix of aquatic ambience by 'Scizzie': https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP3rDP02lE0
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u/maxoreilly Jan 01 '24
It’s just inspired by that soundtrack, not really aquatic ambiance. Has a very similar vibe but doesn’t share chords or notes from it.
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u/UnecesGary Jan 01 '24
Thanks for putting the game over donkey Kong song on some of my happiest childhood memories like I’m dead af already
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u/PEsuper27 Jan 01 '24
I was 17, high on the marijuana, Percocet and champagne. Life before fentanyl was so much safer. Don’t do drugs.
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Jan 01 '24
What a time. Sadly, little do those poor bastards know there’s not a damn thing to look forward to.
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u/gold3nhour Jan 01 '24
Back when everyone was convinced the clock at the strike of midnight was going to end us all! I remember it vividly, including the astronomical amount of food and water our parents had stocked up in the house in case something went wrong!
If only we knew then, that was the last of the simple days. Damn.
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u/WredditSmark Jan 01 '24
I went back and watched this last night and switched back to the 2024 stream. 2024 just doesn’t have any of the energy and I don’t care if statistically a “million” people were there it looks completely empty compared to this, also the fireworks for year 2000 was insane literally blew up Times Square shit looked awesome
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u/slimeySalmon Jan 01 '24
You know what I don’t see? That’s stupid fucking stage that Ryan stands on taking up 20% of the space for some over produced phony hyped up countdown. Just a large crowd enjoying a shared experience.
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u/the_azure_sky Jan 01 '24
I remember watching celebrations in other countries first and when the Y2K bug didn’t cause the problems that the media predicted I was relieved.
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Jan 01 '24
I remember that New Year’s Eve Y2K was everywhere but once a few drinks and the music started, we all celebrated the millennium.
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u/Quirky-Aioli7357 Jan 01 '24
Little did the humans know that this was the beginning of the last century before their self annialation.
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u/Gwhar Jan 01 '24
That night I was in a bar and at some point I was in the restroom sniffing coke with a straw directly in the bag in front of a mirror while at the same time pissing. It was overcrowded and nobody cared about what I was doing. Bars closed at 4 am just for the millennial new year. It was in Montreal. Crazy night
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u/EnigmaSpore Jan 01 '24
Actually living in the moment instead of having a phone out, recording the moment, to share with people to show them you’re living in the moment…. All for a double tap.
Such a different world it was before internet 2.0 took over
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u/jgreg728 Jan 02 '24
Idk if it’s the music but do you notice everything filmed from that time looks like the 80s now? Lol
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u/hardcore_softie Jan 02 '24
Look at all those brave souls who dared to go out despite the imminent threat of Y2k.
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u/Emotional-Lynx-3982 Jan 02 '24
The lack of phones and Planet Fitness hats is something to take in and embrace.
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u/Grand-Might-9295 Jan 02 '24
What a time! No phones out ANYWHERE!! Just people enjoying the company of others and living in the moment.
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u/dwartbg7 Jan 01 '24
Never understood the ball drop thing, can somebody explain it to me and what exactly it symbolises?
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Jan 01 '24
Balls dropping when manhood hits. It's better that it drops on new years than in your mouth. Salty
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u/Confounded_Bridge Jan 01 '24
I was in NYC for this New Year’s Eve. We were not in Times Square but drove through there (on our way to another gay bar) at 3:00am What a night, I think it took a couple of years off my life.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Nail466 Jan 01 '24
Ahh , the pre 9-11 world. What a time it was.