Today, I sit down to write this letter to you with a mixture of nostalgia and anticipation, like someone going through the photos in the family album while waiting for the arrival of that cousin who went abroad and who always brings something new and exciting (sometimes chaotic, but usually interesting).
To you, dear 2024, what a year you had. You took off like a bull in a china closet, with promises of technological breakthroughs, dramatic climate changes, and those elections that had us on the edge of our seats, eating popcorn or drinking while deciding whether to laugh or cry. You brought us the rise of artificial intelligence. You showed how screwed we are as a society that a “chatbot” now turns out to have become the most trusted friend of many scientific discoveries that made us believe that science fiction is no longer fiction, just science and increasingly rushed.
The heat was oppressive this past year, and by all accounts, this one won’t be so different. You melted us, literally, but you also awakened a global spirit more committed to climate change, even though Trump denies it or that bunch of ignorant people who believe the earth is flat.
You gave us a few moments of jubilation and many of stress, like wars, conflicts, and social movements. You made us look at the sky and wonder if the drones over New Jersey are extraterrestrials. You made us question how rotten the Hollywood entertainment industry is, as well as politics around the world, and whether we Yucatecans are really ready to see the “Va y Vén” in that horrid red-cherry color.
You brought back old acquaintances like Huacho, Panchito, Sahuí, Victorcito, and many others in Yucatan. In the United States, Trump and Elon Musk, whom I have always seen as similar to James Bond movie villains. That is, a multi-billionaire with influence worldwide who wants to conquer space but has a hidden agenda. Like Hugo Drax in 1979’s Moonraker, except no James Bond is coming to save us.
But, dear 2024, it wasn’t all laughs (as if there were any). We also had our tears, our losses, our struggles. Yet, in the face of these challenges, we demonstrated a resilience that is not just a pretty word for a tattoo but a muscle that we continue to strengthen. Especially in Mexico, where we saw Morena take over the country and have a woman president even though the one who rules and manages the country is someone else, you know who. Not to mention that as in a kind of an alternate reality, nowadays, to have the desire to get ahead, to better oneself, to bathe every day, to use deodorant, to read and write, or to have a decent spelling implies being an “aspirational fifí,” according to the “new Mexican school”, led by a a huge fan of the Latinamerican socialism. Anyway 2024, the truth is that you came short in several areas.
To you, 2025, our young and brilliant New Year, we await with the anticipation of a VIP guest. We know you will bring your challenges because, let’s face it, no year will arrive with everything solved. But you also come with promises: more technological advances that could solve historical problems, a world more united by lessons learned, and new memes (because if anything keeps us sane, it’s memes).
We ask for your tolerance and patience with us. We are not perfect, but we try to improve. Please, we beg you: less disasters and more miracles. Don’t be like a friend’s wife who always arrives with a fatalistic attitude and drama in her mouth.
So, Old Year, thank you for everything you gave us, even for what we didn’t ask for. New Year, welcome to the madness; make yourself comfortable, and please bring your best.
With love on behalf of humanity
José E. Urioste
For Times Media Mexico / The Yucatan Times
December 31, 2024
