Finding Humanity in Times Square

ABC News On Campus reporter Marilia Brocchetto blogs:    When conflicts arise between the Israelis and the Palestinians, when bombs go off in the middle of the night, it is hard to believe in world peace and understanding between the different cultures in the world. But once in a while, a big event brings all kinds of people together. Argentinians, Brazilians, Chinese, Japanese, Indians; all together, peacefully sharing a part of history.  New Year’s Eve in Times Square in New York City is more than just a celebration to bid farewell to the year that’s gone and say hello to the year that is coming in; it’s a way to learn about different cultures and what makes people from all corners of the world come together to wish each other peace and joy in the year to come. In the eight hours I stood outside in the cold, I traveled across the world and back. First I met a couple from Vienna, who were a little confused about all the excitement. “You stand out here for eight hours to see the ball? That’s it?” They didn’t understand the concept. Venezuelans from Miami passed around hand warmers and joked about lying out in South Beach to pass the time and entertain themselves. Everywhere I looked people were sharing their thoughts about the year that was about to end. “It was a good year,” said a couple from Canada. “Not so much for me,” said their daughter. British boys were talking to Japanese girls: “Does it get this cold in Japan?” asked the boy. “No, never this cold,” answered one of the girls, shivering from the extremely cold temperatures. “But you are used to this, right?” she replied to him. The New York Police Department estimated that a million people were in Times Square in the last hours of 2008. A million people with a million different reasons to be there, but sharing one common idea. One young woman from the Dominican Republic, who has lived in New York City for 15 years, kept visiting different groups in the crowd, trying to bring them some warmth. She had a theory that the more you “jump around and rub each other’s back, you get more warm.” And so she jumped, with every group. “New people, new people, I love meeting new people,” she would scream anytime a new person would cross her path. And so joined by the one feeling that 2009 can be the year with peace and understanding in the world, strangers hugged their neighbors and bid farewell to 2008 and welcome 2009 with open arms and open minds, because for that one night in New York City, we were all equals.