It's just a date

I'm writing this post, on 12/12/12.  I'm reading some g+ postings about the world ending on 12/21/12.  We make a big deal about the first baby born each year, and in order to spread the ... whatever...   we extend it to the first baby born each year, in each town, the first baby born each year, in each hospital.  Of course if we went to an extreme and extended this 'big deal' to the first baby born each year, to each set of parents, well that would include most of us.  That's not a bad thing, but now I feel really bad for the second in a set of twins, and for the few born near the end of the year, who have an older sibling born that same year.  So let's not go there.  Instead, we should make a big deal about all babies -- oh, wait... we do!

We celebrate all sorts of holidays, on all sorts of dates, and that's good.  I like celebrations, and I like holidays.  Most of them  involve family and friends being together, and being together is good.  And if we can't be together, we often talk to each other, or at least think of each other.  All of that is good.  And if the event was not a happy one, that's ok too... it gives us an opportunity to reflect, and remember, and recollect.

But the holidays, and celebrations, and births, are very different from all of the hoopla  (I've always like that word) about 12/12/12 and 12/21/12.  
By assigning a specific date to holidays, etc, it lets a bunch of people do the same thing on the same day, which can make things easier.. but it's certainly not necessary.  My family is spread all over the country, and into Europe.  So on the occasions when we can all get together, we often celebrate holidays that appeared on the calendar when we weren't together.  We've done Thanksgiving a few days early, and even in the summer, and our latest tradition is celebrating everyone's birthday all at once, cake and all.

On the other hand, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade would be a bit difficult to pull off, if everyone was showing up on a different day.

But let's get back to  12/12/12.  I can see the advantage of a having a date easy to remember... so I imagine there might be a lot of weddings today.  After all, I was married on '6/'7/80..  we didn't do that on purpose, but it has made it easy to remember over the years.  But beyond that...  I'm afraid I don't get the excitement about this date.  Of course, it's about 17 minutes away from 12:12 on 12/12/12...  so maybe I'll get excited then... we'll have to see.

And then there's 12/21/12.  I did a google search for 'predicted end of world', and found a wiki site entitled  "List of dates predicted for apocalyptic events."  There's a very long list of failed predictions, going back as far as 634 B.C.E., and as recent as June 30, 2012.  (By the way, I really like this last one... the predictor predicted that he and his followers would undergo a transformation, and be able to fly, and walk through walls.  I feel bad for the followers who discovered this wasn't so.)  And there's a list of future predictions, including the one marked for 12/21/12.  Interestingly enough, there is no list for predictions of apocalyptic events that came to pass... but maybe that's not much of a surprise.  After all, if the apocalyptic event happened, maybe no one was left to notice.

I've been thinking about this calendar and dates stuff... I can't figure out why we have 7 days each week... my first nano had 10 days each week, which seems just as logical, to me.  And then we have 31 days in a month, except when it's 30, or 28, or 29.  And if you're going to insist on 7 days each week, then 28 is really the only number that makes any sense.  And we have 12 months in a calendar year, except the Jewish calendar has 13...  and I don't know why 12 should be more reasonable than 13, or even 17. And all in all, I just don't get it.  It's just a date.

Hmmm... my cell phone says it's 12:12 on 12/12/12.  Nothing seems different.  Guess I'll go make a cup of tea.  Sure wish I had a piece of birthday cake to go with it.