I sat down with a lady, who couldn't be any younger than 45. She stared blankly into the surrounding crowd, as if she didn't want to be around.

Not one to take the high road, I asked her:

"Where was that guy you were with just a while ago?"

"Oh he left, just before the countdown began."

"Oh, I see."

What seemed like just minutes prior, I lost all my friends just before the countdown, and had to settle for hugging strangers when 2003 came around. Got a kiss or two out of it, but the girl I wanted to be with was out of sight. In fact, she was kissing someone else.

"We went out for seven years" the lady exclaimed, "I have three grown children who all moved away, and my brothers live on the other side of Australia. He was all I had, until now. Now, I have nothing..."

Though what she actually said wasn't so dramatic, it was pretty much what she implied, in no more than five sentences. We sat for fourty minutes talking about life in general, and she was absolutely stoic. There were no tears, she was smiling, asking me if I had a good time.

Of course I was having a good time. The trouble is, she wasn't, and I felt compelled to stay. The instant I came back from the washroom, however, she was gone.

I went about my business for the rest of the night, posing for indecent snaps with complete strangers who for some reason were interested in my pair of boxers. The same pair of boxers I bought from the World Trade Center just a few months before they collapsed, and now remains the only memorabilia I have from that place.

On the bus as I was going home, I stared outside the window, thinking how much I miss my friends back home. A buddy of mine was sleeping beside me, constantly being woken up by the bitch in the next row, just because she wanted to. All my ideas of revenge came to pass, when another girl sitting across from her slapped her in the face, because the ruffian spit her chewing gum in her hair. We got off right there just to avoid any potential delays due to possible police activity, and caught a cab home.

The thought of the woman at the bar crossed my mind again at that point, and all I could feel was pity.

Because she was the nicest person I met for the entire evening...