Good riddance 2018: Predictions of greatness in 2019
Arlene Roberts rids wig after surviving breast cancer. Jeff
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Caribbean Life, Jan. 4–10, 2019 11
Unless a jackpot haul showers
millions, most Americans
often declare the outgoing year
one they would rather forget.
As a matter of fact, last Friday,
thousands of New Yorkers
packed into Times Square to
physically display disdain for
2018 by shredding the woes of
the 365 calendar days that is
now almost a memory.
The Times Square Alliance
hosted and sponsored Good
Riddance Day, a day when citizens
are invited to write anything
they want to dispose of
and with assistance from the
Alliance relieve themselves of
the unpleasantness.
Those expressions were
shredded and converted to
confetti for rain from Times
Square on New Year’s Eve.
Scribbled on pieces of paper,
notes of good riddance bade
farewell to — “my heart attack”
“my worthless husband” “my
bad back” “my 30-year mortgage”
“my taxes” “tsunamis”
“hurricanes” “cheating boyfriend”
“bad grades” “corrupt
politicians” “Democrats”
“Republicans” “Liberals” “Conservatives”
“Brexit” “guns”
“border walls” “immigrants”
“penitentiaries” “parents”
“bills’’ “student loans” “terrorists”
“sexual misconduct”
“homophobia” “opiods” “reality
TV” “military service” “war”
“fake news” and a long list of
un-pleasantries that plagued
individuals and the society in
2018.
The celebratory occasion
united citizens hoping for a
better year and prospects of
greatness in the future.
“Good Riddance Day is
inspired by a Latin American
tradition in which New
Year’s revelers stuffed dolls
with objects representing bad
memories before setting them
on fire, ” a web portal for TSA
said.
For one hour, on Dec. 28
from 12 pm to 1 pm on the
Broadway plazas, an invitation
for the 12th annual event
attracted scores of participants
from across the nation to exercise
their expressions about
anything and everything.
“Join Shred-it in destroying
any unpleasant, embarrassing,
and downright unwanted
memories from the past year
— be it an old remnant of
your ex, a paid medical bill,
old study guides for your most
onerous class, or something
else that you’ll write down on
one of our official Good Riddance
Day forms to shred. Use
#GoodRiddanceDay on Twitter
and Instagram and we’ll shred
it for you!”
Some even took physical
annoyances to smash to smithereens.
They used huge hammers
to smash bad memories.
Allegedly, after the shredding,
bonfires also burned the
ills of 2018 as many were convinced
the woes will go wherever
the year will now live.
In all fairness, 2018 was not
such a bad year. Some might
even admit that there was balance
to many situations.
Marvel Comic Book illustrator
Stan Lee died in 2018
but his legacy will endure as
his creation “Black Panther”
topped box-office earnings and
continues to rake in millions
worldwide.
And while Aretha Franklin,
the avowed Queen of Soul is no
longer on the throne, Americaborn
Meghan Markle is now a
princess who sits close to the
throne occupied by the world’s
longest reigning monarch Britain’s
Queen Elizabeth II.
The princess is the very first
woman of color to ever join the
British royal family.
Catch You On The Inside!
Inside Life
By Vinette K. Pryce
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