The end of the world, again

January 7, 2013

Reading Time: 2 minutes The end of the world only comes every so often

Reading Time: 2 minutes
It was Dec. 31, 1999 – 11:59 p.m. I stood barefoot in the middle of my street, staring into the night sky. Naturally, I was wearing my glow-in-the-dark Batman shirt. I wasn’t waiting for the Times Square Ball to drop but rather a meteor or something of equal value, as I suspect many were that night seeing as the Y2K scare had occupied the news for several months prior. But, I was ready to go.

end of worldwebMy family stood beside me. We had spent the night eating and playing games. My last wish on the earth was experiencing what I assumed would be my first and last time doorbell ditching. My brother, 12 years my senior, took me doorbell ditching to deliver coal to anyone who had ever wronged us.

At the end of 2012, we’ve faced, again, an apocalyptic scare. The scare we encountered is founded upon the Mayan Long Count Calendar, which dates from centuries ago to Dec. 21 of this year. It has been assumed that the Mayan’s knew something that we do not about the timing of The End.

Because of this possible tragedy, there was nothing else for me to do but to relive my past experience of nearly 14 years ago. In visiting my family on the eve of “the end,” we ate even more than what seemed humanly possible with a turkey dinner and pie. It was, needless to say, more than necessary to recreate the doorbell ditching experience, coal and all. Was it epic? No, only because that word should be left in 2012 where it belongs. For any of you who happened to be doorbell ditched on Dec. 20, the Eve of the alleged Armagedon, you’re welcome; I let you be part of my end-of-the-world tradition. Now that “the end” has come and gone, I suppose that the Mayan’s weren’t trying to suggest the end of the world after all but more than likely figured that the “Mayan Long Count Calendar” that extended to 21 December 2012 was more than long enough.

If you were one of the many who was hoping that the end-of-the-world would come to pass before it was time to pay tuition, you probably will have to re-register like I did. Have a merry start to the new school year. Until the next apocalypse.

By Kim Richards, Life Writer [email protected]