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Of Course 2020 Is a Leap Year

Uh oh, it’s the February bonus round — what will you do with it? Photo: Getty Images

Any other year, today — Friday, February 28 — would conclude winter’s worst month, and tomorrow we would wake up that much closer to the start of technical spring. But 2020 is not any other year; it is a year already marked by a growing global health crisis and (somehow, relatedly) government-endorsed soul patches; by continent-consuming fires and alarming progress toward the climatic tipping point; by a monumental presidential election, one of precipitous stakes that may ultimately come down to a sort of one percent cage match, billionaire creep vs. (possible) billionaire creep. The dread is just baked right in!

All this to say, 2020 was never going to be good or nice or fun, so naturally there will be more of it than you’d maybe like. Yes, 2020 is a leap year, meaning that you get one extra installment of February, a full 24 hours of bonus month. The limited possibilities are truly endless. What will you do with your leap day?

Storied leap day tradition holds that, on February 29 and February 29 only, women may propose to their partners. As added incentive, if you decide to propose to a man and he says no, he must — according to lore — buy you 12 pairs of gloves. (Gloves to sheath the shame of a ringless hand, but … still, free gloves!) If, however, your partner says yes and you consider yourselves spontaneous types, there may still be time to get in on this group wedding in hell. Fair warning: it’s a hot ticket (heh) and you’ll need to act fast.

Whether or not you have designs on marriage, though, you’ll have one whole unasked-for day at your disposal. You might consider knocking an activity off your bucket list, one of those things you’re always saying you would simply love to do if only you had the time. Will you finally crack open Das Kapital? Strike out in search of France’s biggest celebrity? Invest some hours, as many as it takes, in figuring out how badgers work? Learn to code? Sit down and watch Cats, settling this score once and for all? Do 550 times the normal recreational dose of LSD and go see about boulders? Train yourself not to touch your freaking face? (Definitely, at some point, carve out a slot for that.)

Alternatively, you could opt to spend February 29 catching up on the rest that existential anxiety may or may not have stolen from you. It’s entirely up to you.

Of Course 2020 Is a Leap Year