OPINION: New year hype: loud, thoughtless and overrated
For days afterwards, social media was awash with desperate posts about missing pets – some later found injured, run over or dead, while others remain, sadly, missing.
I have to say, the whole new year hype feels increasingly overrated. This year, in particular, I welcomed 2026 not with hope or excitement, but with exhaustion and anger.
For one, I was deeply disappointed by the sheer volume of fireworks set off – and by the selfishness behind it. While others celebrated, I spent the early hours of the new year sitting with stressed, panicked dogs. Tranquillisers are no match for what can only be described as explosions. For days afterwards, my birds failed to return and my colony of feral cats went missing, clearly traumatised.
It left me saddened and more than a little bitter, questioning whether the human race has progressed at all. If anything, we seem to have gone backwards – becoming more self-centred, finding glee in pointless noise that causes fear, pain and disorientation to animals who have no choice and no escape. For days afterwards, social media was awash with desperate posts about missing pets – some later found injured, run over or dead, while others remain, sadly, missing.
In a country where we are fortunate enough to have wildlife living among us, I can’t help but wonder if we’ve lost the plot entirely. Surely spending hundreds of rands on loud bangs that last mere seconds is not only wasteful, but thoughtless. So yes, there it is – I’ve said it.
And yet, here we are. The new year has arrived regardless, and we are already halfway through January. Before we know it, we’ll be ticking off Valentine’s Day, Easter, and then sliding downhill into winter. Time, as always, doesn’t pause for reflection.
If last year was anything to go by, all I can do is hope this one is better. I find myself wishing that the year of the snake truly sheds its old skin – the challenges, the disappointments, the weariness – so that we can step forward a little lighter. And then perhaps we can welcome the year of the fire horse, not cautiously, but at a galloping speed – with energy, purpose and momentum, leaving hesitation and thoughtlessness behind.
One can hope. Even if, for now, I remain a little sulky.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like the South Coast Herald’s Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
