07/07/07

The media is making a big deal about today's date, due to all the lovebirds who've scheduled their weddings today.

I say, "Big effing deal."

Dates like 0x/0x/0x (where x > 0 and x < 13)are cheap the first 12 years of any century. It happens once a freakin' year for 12 years. Ho. Hum. The last three are more interesting than the first 9, but after 12/12/12 you'll be waiting ten years for another string of repeating digits.

Now... feast your eyes on this date:

7/7/77

It's much more attractive typographically. All those straight, parallel lines. Thirty years ago, that was one helluva date. And you won't see it again for 70 years.

Last year on 06/06/06, people, Xians in particular, were flipping out. Not many folks scheduled their weddings on that day (although I'm sure it happened somewhere). We all know the issue with that one.

In fact I first became aware of interesting dates on 6/6/66. Before that, I was oblivious. 6/6/66 was the last day of the 6th grade. On that day, our school had a bomb scare and they sent us outside to play for the whole day while the Fire Department checked out the school.

These days CNN would show up with a few helicopters and some satellite uplinks, but those were simpler times.

That day, while I was having a good time running around on the playground, a classmate told me it was the End of the World, due to the fact it was 6/6/66, and that the bomb scare was part of God's plan to wipe us all out.

Serious buzzkill for a 6th grader.

Of course, Nothing Happened. But I went through the rest of the day expecting nuclear war, and the rest of my life watching the date.

The only memorable one since then was 7/7/77. 8/8/88 and 9/9/99 were uneventful. Same with the 0x series. Take away the dates I have to remember (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) and 7/7/77 is the only date I want to remember. It's definitely a date I can't forget.

YIM me if you want to know why.