According to R.E.M, the end of the world starts with an earthquake, birds and snakes, an aeroplane.
In my opinion, today—21 December 2012—did not.
It was tipped to be the day the world would come to an end; ancient Mayan prophecy predicted the planets would align, the sun would activate and the deluge would begin.
But today started like every other day; I woke up, stretched and reached for my iPad to see what was going on in the world.
It seemed that while I was sleeping, the eyes of the world were focused on the southern hemisphere.
People across the world waited with bated breath to see if, when the clock struck 12 and the date flicked over, Australia and New Zealand would suddenly disappear, swallowed by a giant wave.
A global Reuters poll, one-in-seven people believe the end is nigh and one-in-10 believe today is doomsday.
“Whether they think it will come to an end through the hands of God, or a natural disaster or a political event, whatever the reason, one-in-seven thinks the end of the world is coming,” said Keren Gottfried, research manager at Ipsos Global Public Affairs which conducted the poll for Reuters.
But it is now after 9pm, I’m three cocktails down and we’re still here!
Clearly those Mayans didn’t know what they were talking about … which makes me thankful I didn’t fall prey to the doomsday-ists and lock myself away in a bunker with a year’s supply of baked beans, batteries, corn chips and waterproof matches!!
One of the best responses to the lack of apocalypse happened online with Tourism Australia reporting unprecedented traffic to their ‘Austraila’ facebook page after posting a status saying “Yes, we’re alive”, which has already resulted in more than 150,000 ‘likes’ and more than 6,000 comments.
Now, with just a few hours left of the longest day of the year (it’s the summer solstice), I have thrown on my dancing shoes and hit the town with the girls, safe in the knowledge that if the world suddenly implods, I’ll be going down in good company!
Although there’s a fair chance that when I wake up with a hangover tomorrow I’ll feel like the world exploded—or at least my head!
“It’s the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine.” —R.E.M—
