it's the first anniverary of the london subway bombings and my sister's birthday today. i used to think my sister had a really cool birthday, what with the double 7s. but now 7/7 has a bit more of an ominous feel to it. at least my sister's not british. it's kind of like all those unfortunate people who's birthday or wedding anniversary fell on 9/11.
i was once invited to a wedding that was on september 11th. and it was after 2001 too. i was in tashkent, talking to a random guy i met on the street and who invited me in for tea. the guy didn't speak any english but this kid i met in the market was with us and he did, so the kid translated.
so this guy, the tea server, only spoke to me for about 30 minutes before he mentioned that his daughter was about to get married. then he left the room and came back with a pair of invitations. he handed one to me and one to the kid who was translating. the invitation was in cyrillic (it was uzbek, not russian, i was later told), but i could read the date: "11 сентябрь 2003." it was only a few days away but i couldn't make it. i was flying to nukus, across the country, the next morning.
i told the proud father that i don't think anyone gets married on that date in the u.s. anymore. he replied that in uzbekistan people try to schedule happy events on sad days. after a while you remember all the happy occasions and not the original sad day anymore.
so anyway, i hope my sister manages to have a happy birthday and that the happy event will replace any weird connotations that 7/7 may now bring.
