When I stop and think about the year 2012… I feel, well, much like the kid at the science fair with his thriving plant that he talked to all semester standing next to the kid that made an erupting volcano. I feel a real sense of world-wide underachievement. Sure it’s only April and 2012 has eight more months to do something note-worthy, but what’s really burning in the hopper right now? What treasure under what unturned stone has been left for the world to unearth and celebrate in 2112?
Let’s think about this for a second. What has 2012 delivered to the world thus far? By April 11th one-hundred years ago we had already seen the Republic of China proclaimed; The Scouts Association incorporated throughout the British Commonwealth by Royal Charter; the founding of The African National Congress; the British Polar Explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott and a team of four become the second expeditionary group to reach the South Pole; Albert Berry made the first parachute jump from a moving airplane; Italian forces were the first to use airships for military purposes; the unsinkable RMS Titanic had just set off on her first and only voyage; The Girl Scouts of America were founded; the Royal Flying Corps (forerunner of the Royal Air Force) was established; and the German meteorologist and geophysicist Alfred Wegener proposed the idea of continental drift… to name a few! And these were the highlights between January-April 1912… not the entire year!
Now enter the first quarter of 2012. With technology, time and the most sophisticated science and communication platforms in our planet’s history working in our favour, all I’ve seen so far is the 3rd generation of the Apple Ipad; Eurozone’s finance ministers reaching an agreement on a second 130-billion dollar Greek bailout; the new Dyson Ball DC 24 Vacuum Cleaner (the most super-sucky vacuum there ever was); and, very sadly, after 244 years since its first publication, the Encyclopædia Britannica discontinuing its print edition (thanks to the aforementioned technology). If that doesn’t scream inferiority complex I don’t know what does. We need to demand more out the 366 days allotted to 2012. We need to prevent 2012 from becomming the proverbial 'red-headed step-child' (no disrepect to red-headed, step-children). We even got an extra day with the leap year – let’s use it people!
I’ll try to remain optimistic as long as you do. After all, we still have the Olympic Games in London-XXX Olympiad (congrats 30 AD); the Queen will celebrate her Diamond Jubilee (congrats 1953); the 100th Grey Cup Game will be played in Toronto (way to go 1912); and of course, one would be remiss if I forgot to mention Prince William and Catherine’s one-year wedding anniversary (kudos 2011). Okay so upon reflection it would seem that the wonderful things to come in 2012 are all celebrations of events and achievements from previous years. Sigh… in 100 years what will we remember, commemorate, celebrate, retweet? Oh please say it won’t be the new Facebook Timeline or the release of Apple’s iPad4… of course it won’t – this will be irrelevant by this date next year! And while were on the subject… how many versions of the Dyson Ball can they actually come up with anyway? Please say that 2012 will deliver more! I encourage and challenge all of us to be part of that more!
Ever respectfully,
Kelly Mathews
https://twitter.com/#!/allthingsregal
Side note: I found it quite puzzling that spell check did not recognize the word “retweet”… baffled actually.
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