The day that will never come...
By Reyachan
@Reyachan (589)
Romania
November 21, 2009 7:18pm CST
Today when I bought some bread from a nearby shop I had a very interesting surprise.I paid the bread, looked at the wraping and put it in my bag. At first, it didn't strike me as odd. It was more like a sensastion I couldn't shake, but when i got the package out again and looked at it...the expire date was 31 November 2009!!!
I kept looking at the little piece of paper and couldn't believe my eyes.I must've had a real stupid look on my face double cheking to see if I saw correctly or that I know how many days this month has. The fun part is, my birthday is on November the 31st and ...as I knew my birthday to be in the last day of the month, I became very confused for a few seconds.
How can this happen in the modern, mechanical world? The label was printed, not hand written.
Has something like this happend to you? Something that shook your perfect world for a few seconds, making you confused? Something so little and apearently unsignificant but that you didn't know what to make of?
Are we that fragile and totally dependent of our habits? Of our little truths and axioms that once stripped of it we loose our compass?
Or am I just airheaded? That possibility exists aswell. I'm still wating to see when my bread expires, but i guess...that day will never come..
2 responses
@khayshenz (1384)
• United States
22 Nov 09
There are only 30 days in November - are you saying you're confused because you just figured that you're birthday is not on the 31st of November after more than 13 years of life on this earth or you're confused that the printed label says November 31st? Because if you're confuse about the printed label - well, let me tell you, those machines make mistakes! TONS of them! And they are run by humans, who also make mistakes. THUS, it's probably a mistake. It's highly likely that you're bread will expire on the 30th of November. The 1st of December, if you're lucky. But if I were you, I wouldn't push it and just make sure the bread is fully eaten before the 30th of November. Just to be on the safe side. Now if you're confused about your birthday - then you should probably talk to your parents about that? I don't really know who to blame in making you think that your birthday is November 31st!
@Reyachan (589)
• Romania
22 Nov 09
First off all...I'm almost 25, not 13. Second of all this little one-shot was meant to point out the fact that sometimes our mind is so well programed by daily habits, that if something new comes along it takes a few moments of confusion to adapt.
Ofcourse I know November has 30 days and my birthday is in the last day of the month. But reading something this absurd as 31st of November on a printed label just made me wonder a bit. About how we always expect to see certain things.
And that our mind is based on axiomes like : the day has 24 hours, the week has 7 days and so on. And when something brutally tears these truths, even for a few seconds, the mind tales a few moment to ajust and to see if and how it should fit the new information.
It's acutally a normal neurological response.
Also, I was trying to point out how inclined we are to accept a printed information. We normally don't doubt codes and dates. They are just there and they are meant to be truthfull. And when one of these things "lies" to you, the first few moments you don't know what to make of it.
As for my bread...I'll eat it long before the 30th so there shouldn't be a problem.
@starsailover (7829)
• Mexico
23 Nov 09
Hi khayshenz: i think you're answer to Reyashan was rude. This is just a very interesting discussion abou how our brain works and it's probably sure that we get a little bit confused when we watch something that doesn't make part of our logical rules. Simple as that. It's like those years when February has 29 days it seems strange to us and difficult to remember this and it's part of our rationality. Simple as that.
@khayshenz (1384)
• United States
23 Nov 09
Hi - I'm sorry if I offended you but I was just curious as to the point of the discussion because she said so much about the situation which is fine, but I just didn't get her point. I'm sorry that you took it so hard. You must understand that I didn't mean for it to be rude or mean. And I'm sorry to the discussion starter if she took it the same way.
@starsailover (7829)
• Mexico
23 Nov 09
Hi Reyachan: There are three possibilities- you judge what's the better option: 1. Your bread will never expire. Lol. XD. 2. It would be probably 1rst of december what they should write instead of 31 november 2009 that simply don't exist don't exist or 3. We have to admit that even today, XXI century, with all the technologies we have, people still commit ridicolous mistakes at this happend, it's probably that the officer that print the expiration dates commit that big mistake. Now that i think about it, maybe the mistake it's not in the number -31- but in the month, what if the person that print the dates was thinking abot this month when he/ she has to write December ,2009. This is strange i must admit.
