Ambushed by Leap Year Day
Instead of a day every four years,
how about a weekend every eight years?

by Burton S. Blumert
by Burton S. Blumert

It seemed like just another Sunday.

237 TV channels competed for my attention. The Food Channel promised a "life/death" cook-off between the Japanese Master and an American Interloper. Squid was featured in every course. A very tempting show.

For an instant, I almost settled in at the "E" (Entertainment) channel where they were readying for the Academy Awards. (This year I actually saw one of the nominated movies and had heard of two others).

I should have been using the time researching the Infomercial on the Exo-Cize Machine for Seniors. ( I'm close to making a decision on one of those babies)

But viewing habits are hard to break. There I was, glued to the same old channels catching middle-aged men in bald-faced lies (politicians), and watching death and destruction in Haiti, the US foreign policy disaster of the week. (It's Haiti AGAIN, fellas).

"Something isn't right," I muttered. "It must be my new high blood pressure pill."

"Look, Blumert, it's February 29th, Leap Year Day, that disorients you. Every four years we go through the same thing," advised my encyclopedic wife. "For some reason, you lose it on 'Leap Year Day.'"

"In 1996 you sued the bank for an extra day's interest. And I don't even want to think about 1992, when you told the police that they could not legally issue parking violations on Leap Year Day."

As usual, her recollections are infallible when it comes to criticizing me, but she's right about February 29th.

There are certain events that people can handle only once in four years.

The Olympics; two solid weeks of observing drug-driven athletes, "up close and personal" and then having to endlessly endure the strains of that inferior music known as National Anthems.

The World Soccer Cup: praise the Lord, Americans have not yet fully succumbed to that disease. But, have no fear. It won't be long before the USA, USA (delivered with gusto) will be exporting our drunken rowdies to "exciting" soccer matches the world over. (Exciting? watching a zero-zero soccer match is like watching Pakistan vs. Australia in Cricket).

American Presidential Elections; It takes four years for the foul air to become breathable again.

Leap Year Day doesn't even measure up to such events. Because it is so unimportant, it surprises us every time.

Someone tell me, please, why Leap Year Day comes in February? You can always trust politicians to give you snow in the winter. Why not an extra day in May? Or, how about a different month for Leap Year Day each time?

And don't tell me that February gets it because it's a short month. Considering it's horrid weather, February deserves to be a short month.

We're a democracy aren't we? Let's put it to a vote.

Personally, I'm against government being involved at all in determining when we celebrate Leap Year Day.

Let people decide themselves when they want that extra day. Can you imagine the commerce that choice would engender?

You could gift "The Day" to a loved one. If you're broke, you could sell your extra day on E-bay. The potential is endless.

I have some other thoughts on the subject, but I'll wait until February 29th, 2008, to fill you in.

March 1, 2004

Burt Blumert [send him mail] is publisher of LewRockwell.com, president of the Center for Libertarian Studies, and proprietor of Camino Coin. See Burt's Gold Page.

Copyright © 2004 LewRockwell.com

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