The Day That Never Was by Brad Boyle

One of my favourite songs growing up was the song “I Don’t Like Mondays” (10 bonus points for those that can name the “family” band that made this song famous). This past week our family decided to skip Monday, February 16! How did we do this? Simple. We crossed the International Date Line! Now this is not a phone number for a dating service. It is an imaginary line that runs around the earth from the North Pole to the South Pole and through the Pacific Ocean. It is opposite the Greenwich Meridian Line and is used to separate time zones. The International Date Line is where every day starts and ends. So for example, let’s say it is 12:01 a.m. Tuesday at the start of the International Date Line. Each of the 24 time zones adds one hour as you go around the earth from east to west until you get back to the International Date Line. Therefore, when it is 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday at the International Date Line, it is 5:01 a.m. on Monday in Calgary. As you keep going west from Calgary and come back to the International Date Line it is 12:01 a.m. on Monday, the previous day. As you step across the International Date Line, you go from 12:01 a.m. on Monday to 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. This is how you skip a whole day!

This sounded like a good idea to Adam and Erin since they got to skip a Monday, a school day. Except this particular Monday was Family Day in Alberta and there was no school on that day anyway. Bummer! For Brad and Maggie, it was just another example of how quickly we are getting older. Double bummer!