USD Magazine, Winter 1998

here once was a tradition, now largely forgotten, of opening your house on New Year's Day. At the turn of the century, in cities such as New York and Philadelphia, men custom– arily strolled from home to home on the first day of the year, often introducing themselves to eligible young ladies with the presentation of a calling card, each one a unique collaboration of paper, type and symbols reflective of the gentleman who carried it. This ritual of visitation and celebration was so ingrained in the culture of the late 18th and early 19th centuries that families found it necessary to publish in the newspaper the hours they would be at home to receive guests, and the listings filled column after column of print. Over time, the ritual passed from city to countryside, where perhaps in some tiny burgs it still carries on to this day. One can– not imagine such a tradition in large cities now, and indeed it was not long before the practice of New Year's calling moved from the celebratory to the unmanageable. With so many houses open to callers, all of them offering food and drink, it was inevitable that problems would arise. As the years progressed, bold groups of bounders took it upon themselves to recklessly charge from home to home, draining the punch bowl and scrambling out the door, anxious to empty as many liquor cabinets as possible. In the face of such bawdy behavior, it was not long before another quaint custom was tossed upon history's scrap heap. Of course, direct descendants of these devil-may-care revelers can be found at almost any New Year's Eve party today. They rep– resent one of the few die-hard remnants of those New Year's celebrations that once were. To be sure, the lampshade-wearing contingent can be found at any gathering any time of year, but ringing in the New Year seems to encourage a particular boldness in those who like to party with a vengeance. It would be folly to expect or even desire a return to the more formal celebrations of the distant past; they are artifacts of what was then known as high society. But there are rites of the New Year that might benefit from a dose of renewed civility and social consciousness. Take, for example, New Year's resolutions. Each year, the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion surveys American atti–

increase family time, be kinder to others or volunteer. From which the conclusion can be drawn that we either live in a society in which everyone already works for charity, spends ample time at home and is nice to one another, or we live in a society that doesn't always place as much emphasis on these virtues as it should. I am not being smug, in fact exactly the opposite. Last year, I would have placed squarely with the majority. At the cusp of the New Year, I resolved to lose weight, manage my finances better and exercise on a regular basis. It was shocking, at least to me, when I managed to keep all the vows I made. I joined a gym, created a

tudes about New Year's resolutions. Always vying for the top spots on the

financial plan for myself and dropped 15 pounds. They were the very first New Year's resolutions I ever made, and they worked. It can be done. So who am I to criticize New Year's resolutions that concen– trate on the self? I cannot. While studying up on the traditions of New Year's past, however, I realized that self-improvement is only half the battle. Just as we kept alive the ritual of making merry on New Year's Eve while casting aside the custom of opening our homes on New Year's Day, many of us use the ritual of resolutions to focus only on improving ourselves, often neglecting our duty to improve the world around us. Perhaps it is no longer practical to open our doors on New Year's Day, but it is still possible to open our hearts throughout the year. I approach the coming year with a great deal of hope. If I kept my resolutions this year as a rookie, certainly I can turn in an even better performance as a sophomore. I have done better for myself, now I pledge to do better for others. Maybe late next year, my phone will ring and the folks from Marist will want to know about my resolutions. I hope to be able to inform them that my contract this year was not with myself, but with others who need my help.

countdown are pledges to lose weight, stop smoking and spend less money. Interestingly, the pollsters found that of those who made resolutions in 1996 - and about one-third of all Americans did - more than half said they kept them. If so many people are keep– ing their resolutions, one wonders, then why are these three items perennially at the top of the list? Are we a nation that chronically creates more smokers, overeaters and negligent spenders, who then see the light and vow to reform? With such consistency in the reports, we should be a nation of skinnies without credit card debt who never light up. We aren't. Self-improvement aside, items at the bottom of the list may tell us more about ourselves than those at the top. The Marist poll reported that only 3 percent of those surveyed resolved to

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