Day disappears

People of Samoa gather in front of a clock tower on the eve of every New Year. Their celebration reaches climax when the clock strikes twelve at midnight. But this time what were they doing at midnight watching the clock two nights earlier? They were rushing into future by a day watching 30th of December, 2011 disappear without having spent it.

At midnight of Thursday the 29th of December, 2011, Samoa and Tokelau in Pacific Ocean went straight to Saturday the 31st of December, 2011. How does this miracle happen? They just redraw the dateline on the geographical globe, push it eastward by a small rectangle and Samoa becomes first on its west, instead of being last on its east. In the process they lost Friday the 30th of December, 2011 which just disappeared. Could they not have waited for another two weeks to erase Friday the 13th of January, 2012?

The Samoans, without ageing, have numerically become older by a day. Having worked for a day less and having saved the expenses of that day, they got their full weekly or monthly salary. Borrowers didn’t have to pay interest for the lost day but the depositors earned interest for a non-existent day.

Those born on the 30th of December have this time lost their birthday. Some would have lost their wedding anniversary. Of course, they could have taken an hour’s flight from Samoa on 31st of December, reached American Samoa the previous day and celebrated their anniversary as it was still 30th of December there.

Two days earlier, or was it a day earlier, Samoa was the last to bid farewell to the Sun. Now, it suddenly becomes the first to welcome. They can legitimately stake a claim to the sobriquet ‘Land of the Rising Sun’.

The present generation of Samoans are lucky. They have gained what an earlier generation had lost on their actual 5th of July in 1892 when they had to again live an extra 4th of July and the life went a day backward for the next 119 years. Then it was for the economic consideration and convenience of others. Now the change is for Samoans themselves.