Living: the ultimate team sport

Lighten up Mondays

Posted on February 29, 2016 Updated on February 16, 2016

Why leap years? The reason for this extra day is because most calendars are based on the assumption that there are 365 days in a year, when in fact, there are actually 365 and one-quarter days. To keep our modern Gregorian calendar in sync with the tropical calendar, every four years we add an extra day to February. Although the chances of a leap birthday are one in 1,461, imagine waiting four years for your real birthday and hearing endless jokes about being three when you’re really 12.

So what does this mean to those born on February 29th?

1. Having people respond with “that sucks” when you tell them your birth date;
2. And being asked if it’s like the movie Leap Year;
3. Which it’s not, so you inevitably have to explain how it actually works;
4. And even after explaining that it is once every four years, they still want to guess how old you are;
5. Which is inevitably always wrong;
6. So you correct them and put up with their jokes about being SUPER young;
7. And for some reason, people think you’re lying when you tell them you were born on leap year;
8. So you have to show them your ID;
9. And then they make another remark about how you don’t look your leap year age;
10. During non-leap years, people always want to remind you that it’s not your real birthday;
11. So you end up with less presents;
12. And most of the milestone birthdays, like 18 and 21, don’t fall on leap years;
13. So you have to go to the bar on March 1st, even though you’ve been celebrating February 28 as your birthday most of your life;
14. Which is only one day, but it’s a frustration that nobody else understands.