It's called a pacifier for a reason...

As a parent, it's always good to feel needed by kids, and in the case of a ten hour and 25 minute flight from Los Angeles, I felt like two infants seated two rows in front of us needed me very much.  Apparently, they couldn't bear the thought of me falling asleep and protecting them from whatever peril might come their way mid-flight.  Everytime I came close to nodding off, one of them would cry out.  Not an "I need a comforting pat on the back from Mommy so I can go to sleep" cry.  These were eardrum piercing screeches like they had just been told that Tigger had gone on a feeding frenzy and devoured Piglet, Roo, Owl, AND Rabbit and was turning his attention with a bloodthirsty grin toward Winnie his own honey-covered Pooh self.  It only went on for about 13 hours of the flight, that's not a typo, time seemed to go backwards as the parents tried the shushing method of comfort, much to the discomfort of every passenger in our area of the Air Pacific 747 we were on.  

As I sat there trying to get some sleep in between their yowls, my head became filled with strange thoughts.  One of which was what were we going to miss on December 15th?  We left Los Angeles on December 14th and we landed in Nadi, Fiji on December 16th.  What sort of massive news event were we running the risk of not enjoying 24/7 news coverage?  Charlie Sheen going on a Tiger Blood and Warlock filled internet rampage?  Occupy Deer Park protestors spilling into Kennedy Heights and Silverton? Tim Tebows visage being carved into Mt. Rushmore?  

Looking over the Wikipedia list of events that happened over the years on 12/15, the only one that really stands out happened in 1933 when The 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially became effective, repealing the 18th Amendment that prohibited the sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol.  I may just have to celebrate that with some coconut beverage at some point today, on December 16th.