Bonus Cracker
Leap Day was a while ago now, but as far as Leap Days go, I’d say we’re still in the ballpark. They’re only every 4 years, after all. Even the Olympics are more often than that. (Provided you respect winter as much as summer, which I obviously do.) But I love Leap Day. I really like that the math didn’t work out, and the solution was just to chuck another day into February every so often. It’s a bonus day that isn’t really bonus.
To explain the title of this post, I must share one of my practices for a happy life. I have a system of eating crackers or really anything packaged with a bag in a box. In the first few units, I nonchalantly slip one outside the bag into the box and promptly tell myself to forget what I’ve done. Then, when I get to the end of the bag, and I’m sad all the crackers are gone, I go, “Hmm, sometimes a rogue cracker slips between the bag and the box. Let me see if it’s my lucky day.” And lo and behold, it’s a bonus cracker, all the tastier because it’s bonus. I know the cynics amongst you might say, “Oh, there’s no way you actually forget what you have done yourself moments ago,” but to that, I say, “You don’t know me.”
And that’s Leap Day. An artificial bonus day that is sweeter than a normal one simply because it’s bonus.
This year, my thoughts naturally turned to the last one. It just so happens that you can really cover some distance between Leap Days. 4 years ago, I was in high school in Minnesota (pre-pandemic, mind you), and here we are at university in London. Last time, I actively celebrated Leap Day, which was an endeavor involving a park, a grill, the discovery of a severed unicorn pinata head, and bowling. This year, I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary to celebrate. I did a few readings for my classes, walked in the rain to Lidl (the cheapest and, therefore, best grocery store), made tuna pasta salad, and took the bus to my 2 Thursday seminars. It was a day I have come to regard as normal and routine after 2 months of being here. But it was Leap Day, so I went through the routine with a particular zest that I normally reserve for bonus crackers.
So, on this day, I especially enjoyed things like walking in the rain and guessing how high each passing vehicle could make the water spray. The buses made quite the splash (pun very much intended). At Lidl, I enthusiastically threw myself into the chaos that envelops the self-checkout system by early afternoon. On my way to class, I consciously relished listening to an audiobook as I watched the streets from the top deck of the bus. (I’m delighted to report that Audible has predictably come crawling back to offer me yet another 3-month free trial.) In the afternoon, I reveled in the adrenaline sport of rushing to my second seminar and making it to the room exactly on the hour. When I made dinner, I thought, “What the heck,” and threw an extra olive into my tuna pasta. Actually, I guess I lied when I said I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary to celebrate. I had forgotten about the olive when I wrote that. So yeah, thanks to Leap Day, that’s a pretty great day. But like I said at the start, Leap Day is the best because you can’t help but feel like you’re enjoying an unpromised cracker. And when you stop and think about it, none of the crackers are guaranteed. Forget about living like it’s Christmas every day; Leap Day is the way to go.
UCL Main Campus
Staircase in UCL Physics Building
Inside a foggy bus. I took this picture to document how the screws connecting the poles to the chairs look like eyes.
In the spirit of bonuses, here is some bonus holiday content: On Pancake Day, I went to Leadenhall Market (the inspiration for Harry Potter‘s own Diagon Alley) to watch a pancake-flipping relay race. Teams of 4 must run 20 meters and flip their pancake a minimum of 3 times before passing the pan off to their teammate. The bowler hats are compulsory. Before the race started, I was engaged in a miming exchange with a confused waitress in the fancy Italian eatery on the second floor above all the action. I never thought I’d have to mime running and flipping a pancake, but I also never thought I’d watch people do that either. The dad of the family standing next to me joined a team at the last minute, and since I’d talked to them before the race, I was happy to have someone to cheer on. I picked the right team to root for because they only went and won the whole shebang.
