New Year's Eve: Do you have to kiss someone?

NOTE: This blog originally appeared December 31, 2006

It's interesting how New Year's Eve can be a benchmark in a person's life. When I reflect on New Year's, most vividly I remember counting down the new year with Nicktoons marathons hosted by the Petes from Nickelodeon's The Adventures of Pete and Pete.

This was not recent obviously. And obviously, the years have gone by and the focus has changed a bit.

So let's examine one of the major variables that come into play every New Year's Eve in the years and years following puberty: the kiss at midnight.

Is the New Year's kiss, coming precisely after the stroke of midnight, a mandatory occurrence? Simply put, tonight is New Year's.

Will you be kissing somebody?

"Only people who aren't worth the air they breathe don't kiss at midnight on New Year's Eve," David Rosenblatt, 20, said.

Justine Geiszler, the city of San Jose's number one hockey fan, thinks similarly.

"You should kiss someone on New Year's," she said. "It's a fun way to start off the year."

Why else should you have to kiss someone on New Year's?

"It makes the new year more memorable," Bakersfield College golfer Dana Arneson said. "That's why."

There are some that dissent however. A simple New Year's kiss, however innocent or non-commital it may be, might just be a smidge overrated. So you have no one to kiss, is that such a big deal?

"I've never had anyone to kiss on New Year's and I've lived," Maigon McGaffin said. "It's just a stupid superstition so people can get laid on New Year's."

Ex-baseball player Arya Mozaffarian had a simple answer when asked if he thought it was important to have someone to kiss at midnight.

"No," he said.

How blunt.

Jeannette Minster, Mat Kearney's "fiancee", isn't a kiss-and-tell kind of people but offered her own insight on New Year's kisses.

"I definitely don't think you have to kiss someone at midnight," Minster said. "People like to make it a big deal, but what's the point if it's not with someone special or important?"

"I mean, don't get me wrong, it's nice if you have someone you want to share it with."

One's views on the midnight kiss aside, what would you do if that moment came this New Year's and the opportunity presented itself?

"I'd probably kiss him, in the spirit of New Year's," McGaffin said. "It's only one kiss, not a commitment."

"You don't have to do anything, but it takes away from the fun," Webster Lincoln added. "I'm down for almost anything."

And I'm down for a Nicktoons marathon. Excuse me, while I kiss the sky.