| January 1, 2008 -- Giddy New Year's celebrants cheered as the crystal ball dropped in Times Square, signaling the start of 2008 - and the first chance in hours for a bathroom break.
For just about everyone but Hirouyuki Tani and his friends, that is.
"I wear a diaper," the 30-year-old musician from Tokyo proudly declared, adding that his traveling pals, brothers Taro and Shinsuke Koyama, used the same strategy.
"I asked a girl to join us," said Shinsuke, also 30. "She said I was crazy, and she didn't want to wear one."
There was no denying the need. The city did not provide any portable public bathrooms, and nearby shops were limiting their restrooms to customers or locking them well before the ball drop.
"We're going to hold it all day," vowed Suzanne Stoner, 21, of Enola, Pa., who was celebrating her birthday yesterday among dozens of others packed in front of a stage in Times Square. "We don't want to lose our spot by having to go to the bathroom."
Melinda Williamson, 42, of Park Slope, took her daughter Lina, 7, to the Charmin store for a bathroom break before its 3 p.m. closing time. Their wait: a mere 20 minutes.
"We thought we'd be smart and stop in when we could," she said - although Lina whispered, "We could go behind a tree."
Her mom broke the news that there are no trees in Times Square.
Others turned to the McDonald's on Seventh Avenue at 47th Street, where nearly 50 women stood in a line that snaked around tables of customers.
"You try to go fast because there are so many people behind you," said a 14-year-old from Ann Arbor, Mich., who would give her name only as Beixi.
More than a million revelers were estimated to have jammed the Crossroads of the World as the 700-pound ball of wood and iron, alight with 100 energy-efficient incandescent bulbs, dropped down a 77-foot flag poll atop 1 Times Square. |
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