New Year’s Eve party advice plus open thread

Our 5 pieces of New Year’s Eve advice, plus yours in the comments section

Above photo credit:  Adamsofen

I feel bad for the cops on a night like New Year’s.  Everyone else is out having fun, too many are pushing their own limits and luck, and it’s the cops who have to pick up the mess.  New Year’s can, and should be a blast.  It can also be expensive and frustrating.  Drop your best New Year’s Eve advice in the comments section so we can all learn from each other.  We’ll start with five tips from this end…
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1. Unless it’s bitter cold, leave the jacket in the car and wear a blazer instead.

If you’re ringing in the New Year indoors, a coat will just get in the way wherever you show up.  Your date probably will wear her coat.  Wear gloves, grab a scarf, and when you check her coat, stick them in her jacket’s pockets.

2. Use your card case and money clip

A lost wallet on New Year’s is as good as gone.  Card case with your ID and a credit card go in the front inside pocket of your suit jacket or blazer.  Cash (pay with cash, you risk leaving your card at the bar) goes in the clip.

3. The second line of Auld Lang Syne is:  “and never brought to mind?”

Which is precisely what happens to that second line, every single year when most of us try to remember it. Getting anything right after the first line: “Should old acquaintance be forgot” is gravy anyway…  Feel free to loudly mumble.

4.  Get out while the gettin’s good.  Staying out till bar time just isn’t worth it

Midnight?  Of course.  But the safe play is to start looking for the exit at least an hour before the lights get flipped on and the drunks stumble out into the street.  You’ll end up waiting forever for a cab, and you’ll probably enough drama on the streets to last the next few months.  Same goes for if you’re at a private party.

5. Don’t get plowed.

Getting drunk is something that happens, it’s not something you set out to do.  And this is a night when lots, LOTS of people are setting out to get trashed.  It’s a minefield, and you’ll need your wits at their sharpest at least once or twice tonight.  Drink a few glasses of water before you set out.  While you’re out, alternate with not just club soda but club soda with bitters. Orange bitters if they have em.  Hat tip to drinks correspondent Ben for the suggestion.

Your turn.  Your best New Year’s Eve advice goes below in the comments section.  All the best in 2011…