Don’t look now folks, but we’re a third of the way through 2016 and already we have a lot to talk about.
There’s been a leap day and hotly contested battles for the presidential nominations, and that’s not to mention the upcoming Summer Olympics.
Yet maybe — ladies and gentlemen — it’s time to take a step back and ask ourselves if there are too many events for one year to handle.
Think about it. Every four years, we get one megayear that jams a ton of cool events into the span of 365 days. A whole leap day, the presidential election and the Summer Olympics? How is any one person supposed to take in all of these life changing happenings in addition to the regular annual hustle and bustle? How can I focus my full attention on what Donald Trump just screamed at Megyn Kelly if I have to celebrate February 29th as well?
Just think, until 1992, both the Summer and the Winter Olympics took place in the same year.
And on top of all that, in 2020, we have to factor in the U.S. Census as well.
Though the mega year is the best example of this travesty, the problem goes deeper than that. In addition to the busy calendars in 2016 and 2020, 2014 and 2018 are also jam-packed with midterm elections, the Winter Olympics and the World Cup.
So if we look at this problem closely, we see a systematic exclusion of odd years when it comes to these regularly-scheduled important occurrences. What big thing happened in 2011? Exactly.
Thus, my proposition to the powers that be is to spread out some of these events to give people some breathing room. Give the odd numbered years some events and let them shine. It doesn’t have to be too much, just a Winter Olympics here, a midterm election there. Just a little bit would go a long way towards allowing people to digest the events that matter to them.
So without further ado, here is my proposed schedule starting in 2020.
2020: Presidential election, because it feels like knowing who the leader of the free world is before we plan all these other international events seems like a good idea.
2021: Winter Olympics and Leap Year, because why not.
2022: Midterm elections and the World Cup, because the Constitution mandates it.
2023: Summer Olympics, because this huge event deserves a year to itself.
2024: Rinse and repeat.
