Futility Closet - 318-Peace Pilgrim

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to the Futility Closet podcast, forgotten stories from the pages of history. Visit us online to sample more than 11,000 quirky curiosities from a jet that shot itself to a painting with two backs. This is episode 318. I'm Greg Ross. And I'm Sharon Ross. In 1953, Mildred Norman renounced an empty life of money and things and dedicated herself to promoting peace. She spent the next three decades walking through the United States to spread a message of simplicity and harmony. In today's show, we'll describe her unusual life as a peace pilgrim. We'll also

Starting point is 00:00:46 admire Wellington's mittens and puzzle over a barren Christmas. And just a quick programming note, we'll be off next week, so we'll be back with a new episode on November 16th. In 1953, police in Benson, Arizona, approached a diminutive 45-year-old woman who was mailing some letters at the local post office. She had no money, no home, and almost no possessions. They arrested her for vagrancy, but at the jail, she soon had her cellmates singing, and the matron was so charmed that she gave her a cot with clean bedclothes, a warm shower, and a clean towel. In the morning, she pleaded not guilty, and her case was dismissed. She was carrying a letter signed by the governor of the state, Howard Pyle. It said,

Starting point is 00:01:36 The bearer of this note has identified herself as a peace pilgrim, walking coast to coast to direct the attention of our citizens to her desire for peace in the world. coast to coast to direct the attention of our citizens to her desire for peace in the world. We do not know her personally, as she is just passing through our state, but since undoubtedly it will be a long, hard trip for her, we wish her safe passage. When they released her, a court officer said, you don't seem to be any the worse for your day in jail. She said, you can imprison my body, but not the spirit. She had walked to Arizona from California, but in a sense her journey had begun 45 years earlier on a chicken farm in Egg Harbor City, New Jersey, where she'd been born Mildred Norman in 1908. Her family's ancestors had left Germany in the 19th century to escape a militaristic culture,

Starting point is 00:02:17 and her parents raised their children with a strong ethic of peace, teaching them to think for themselves. Mildred was a precocious child with an inquisitive mind. At three, she could recite long poems. She learned to read at four or five, and she taught herself to play piano over one summer. In high school, she was bright, articulate, and strong-willed. She led the debate team and got good grades. When her friends pressured her to drink and smoke, she told them, look, life is a series of choices, and nobody can stop you from making your choices, but I have a right to make my own choices too. She began to ask fundamental questions that no one could answer. One of them was, what is God? Her family belonged to no formal religion and she hadn't seen the inside of a church until age 12, so she was left to decide

Starting point is 00:02:59 the answer for herself. She said, it came to me that God is a creative force, a motivating power, an overall intelligence, an ever-present, all-pervading spirit, which binds everything She said, to shop for shoes and jewelry. By 25, she was married and living a conventional materialistic life. But already her ideals were troubling her. When her husband was drafted in 1942, she urged him to become a conscientious objector, and when he refused, they divorced. Pursuing her conviction, she took a job as a legislative lobbyist for a peace group in Washington, D.C. But, one acquaintance said, she told us that the longer she worked with congressmen, the more convinced she became that the road which these men were persisting on following could only result in eventual war. As this conviction grew, she began to be consumed

Starting point is 00:03:53 by a gnawing question. As she put it, I am not afraid for myself, but if a debacle occurs, what group will preserve for humanity the best in our culture? The monasteries served us well in this regard during the Dark Ages. What group is adequately structured to do it this time around? She wrote, I also made two very important discoveries as time went on. In the first place, I discovered that making money was easy. I had been led to believe that money and possessions would ensure me a life of happiness and peace of mind, so that was the path I pursued. In the second place, I discovered that making money and spending it foolishly was completely meaningless. I knew that this was not what I was here for, but at that time I didn't know exactly what I was here for. These dissatisfactions

Starting point is 00:04:33 began to prey on her. She realized that she had been taught two sets of opposite lessons. On the one hand, I was trained to believe that I should be kind and loving and never hurt anybody, which is fine. On the other hand, I was trained to believe that if so ordered, it is indeed honorable to maim and kill people in war. They even give medals for it. Now, that one did not confuse me. I never believed there was any time under any circumstances when it was right for me to hurt anybody. But the other set of opposites confused me for a while. I was trained to be generous and unselfish, and at the same time trained to believe that if I wanted to be successful, I must get out there and grab more than my share of this world's goods. She described this later as false training. She wrote, I perceived the entirely self-centered

Starting point is 00:05:15 life as not worth living. If what you're doing will not benefit others besides yourself, it is not worth doing. The existence she'd built now seemed meaningless, and her worldly goods had become burdens to her. Her unhappiness increased until, at age 30, something finally gave way inside her. She walked all night through a forest and came at last to a clearing, where, she recalled later, I felt a complete willingness, without any reservations, to give my life, to dedicate my life, to service. With that, she said, a great peace came over her. That was in 1938, and she began acting immediately on her resolution. She wrote,

Starting point is 00:05:57 She wrote, I thought it would be difficult. I thought it would entail a great many hardships, but I was quite wrong. Instead of hardships, I found a wonderful sense of peace and joy and a conviction that unnecessary possessions are only unnecessary burdens. This period of preparation reached its climax in 1952 when she walked the length of the Appalachian Trail, 2,000 miles from Georgia to Maine, becoming the first woman to hike the trail in one season. During the hike, she had a vision of herself as a messenger for peace. It came to her on a hill overlooking rural New England. She wrote, I saw in my mind's eye myself walking along and wearing the garb of my mission. I saw a map of the United States with the large cities marked,

Starting point is 00:06:35 and it was as though someone had taken a colored crayon and marked a zigzag line across, coast to coast and border to border, from Los Angeles to New York City. I knew what I was to do. And she did it. On January 1, 1953, spectators at the Rose Bowl Parade in Pasadena, California, saw a 45-year-old woman walking ahead along the line of march, handing out messages and talking to people. She was wearing navy blue slacks, a shirt, and a short tunic she'd made with pockets around the bottom. The pockets contained the only possessions that she still owned, a comb, a toothbrush, and a ballpoint pen. Across the front, she'd stenciled the words, Peace Pilgrim. She had resolved to walk across the United States, spreading a message of peace.

Starting point is 00:07:17 She judged that 1953 was the right time to do it. The war in Korea was raging, the McCarthy era was at its height, and the United States and the Soviet Union were locked in an arms race. Though she was a spiritual person, her goal was not religious. It was, she said, to rouse people from apathy and make them think. When enough of us find inner peace, our institutions will become more peaceful and there will be no more occasion for war. As she spread this message, newspapers began to interview and photograph her, and the story went out on wire services, TV, and radio. She told them that she had vowed to remain a wanderer until mankind had learned the way of peace. She would walk until she was given shelter and fast until she was given food. She declined to give her original name, age, or birthplace, saying these were now unimportant and would distract from her message.

Starting point is 00:08:29 Instead, she went by the name dissuaded. Lovingly, I informed my well-meaning friends of the existence of two widely divergent paths in life, and of the free will within all to make their choice. There is a well-worn road which is pleasing to the senses and gratifies worldly desires, but leads to nowhere. And there is the less traveled path which requires purifications and relinquishments, but results in untold spiritual blessings. This first pilgrimage took her zigzagging across 5,000 continuous miles of the United States, talking to individuals, groups, and media, hoping to inspire others to pray and work for peace. She would accept no money but relied on others for food and shelter. A friend in New Jersey forwarded her mail. If it contained any money, she would use it to publish literature, which she sent freely to anyone who asked for it. By the time she reached Kansas, she was on her fourth pair of canvas shoes. By Ohio, she was on her fifth. She was arrested several times for vagrancy, but the

Starting point is 00:09:15 police always let her go when she explained what she was doing. It took her a year to reach the East Coast, where she delivered petitions to the White House and the United Nations, bearing signatures she'd gathered in support of three initiatives, immediate peace in Korea, disarmament throughout the world, and the establishment of a national department to research peaceful ways of resolving conflicts. This was only the first of seven pilgrimages. Peace Pilgrim retained her new identity and kept walking in this cause for the rest of her life. In 1955, she visited every state capital and walked 100 miles in each state. In 1957, she walked 100 miles in each province of Canada. By 1964, she'd covered 25,000 miles and visited every city in the U.S. and Canada with a population of 25,000

Starting point is 00:09:58 or more. She just kept going. As a physical feat alone, this is impressive. In 1966, one New Mexico reporter remarked that her physical fitness was astonishing. She would have been 58 years old at that point. She averaged 25 miles a day, but would go as high as 50 if she needed to keep an appointment or if no shelter were available. In cold weather, she'd walk through the night to keep warm. In hot weather, she'd walk at night to keep cool. Eventually, she wrote, I am now so adjustable to changes in temperature that I wear the same clothes summer and winter, indoors and out. Like the birds, I migrate north in the summer and south in the winter. If you wish to talk to people out of doors, you must be where the weather is pleasant, or people will not be out. She insisted this was not onerous, but joyful. She wrote,

Starting point is 00:10:42 some things don't seem so difficult, like going without food. I seldom miss more than three to four meals in a row, and I never even think about food until it is offered. The longest she went hungry was three days, but eventually, as word spread, she said, my problem is not how to get enough to eat, it's how to graciously avoid getting too much. Everyone wants to overfeed me. She slept in fields, under bridges, in barns, culverts, and haystacks, on conference tables, in packing crates, and in empty jail cells. Sometimes she simply laid down by the side of the road, she said, with God to guard me. She washed her clothes in public restrooms or in streams and let them dry on her body. She wore inexpensive blue sneakers, one size too large,

Starting point is 00:11:21 and generally got 1,500 miles to a pair. And everywhere she went, she talked. She spoke at universities, at truck stops, in deserts and churches, on city streets and back roads, and to countless media. The message she gave them in one sentence is, this is the way of peace, overcome evil with good and falsehood with truth and hatred with love. She said the golden rule would do equally well. There is nothing new about that except the practice of it. She would hand out slips of paper bearing what she called Peace Pilgrim's Magic Formula. They said, there is a magic formula for resolving conflicts. It is this, have as your objective the resolving of the conflict, not the gaining of advantage,

Starting point is 00:11:59 and be concerned that you do not offend, not that you are not offended. She said she found it best to let others approach her rather than initiate a conversation herself. She said, I smile to everyone. I never approach anyone. I'm wearing my short tunic with Peace Pilgrim on the front and 25,000 miles on foot for peace on the back, so folks will stop and talk, and lots of them do. It makes all my contacts for me in the kindest way, and those who come are very special. They're either genuinely interested in peace, or they have a good, lively curiosity. Of her poverty, she said, I have met many millionaires. They had one thing in common. None of them were happy. If we could just put material things into their proper place and use

Starting point is 00:12:39 them without being attached to them, how much freer we would be. Then we wouldn't burden ourselves with things we don't need. If we could only realize that we are all cells in the same body of humanity, then we would think of having enough for all, not too much for some and too little for others. Asked why there is war, she said, the real problem is immaturity. With real maturity, war would be impossible. It would never be considered as a solution of problems between men. In the final analysis, only as we become more peaceful people will we be finding ourselves living in a more peaceful world. And asked when she would be finished, she said, The pilgrimage will be over when all nations are like the United States and Canada,

Starting point is 00:13:17 where there are still disagreements, but they would never dream of killing each other. She lived in this remarkable way for 28 years, from 1953 to 1981, when she died, ironically, in an auto accident, having accepted a ride to a speaking engagement in Indiana. In one sense, Peace Pilgrim was eminently dismissible, just a person walking by the side of the road. She may have seemed naive, but a naive person ought to have come to grief. Instead, her life seems to have validated her faith in the world. In all those years of walking, she was never harmed and never needed money. She never had a doctor's checkup and told a reporter she'd never had an ache, pain, headache, or cold. She said,

Starting point is 00:13:54 I fear nothing and expect good, so good things come to me. When she needed new clothes, someone always offered them. When she needed food, it was given to her. She lost a filling once and someone replaced even that. Her supporters, who knew she wouldn't accept donations, would sometimes slip money into her pockets. She learned to search for that before she left the town so she could give it away. She found in people what she expected to find, and that in itself gave her hope. She acknowledged that she might not live to see the full result of her efforts, but she said, I have seen results.

Starting point is 00:14:25 Lots of letters from people indicating they have been inspired to do something for peace in their own way. Anything from writing letters to Congress to making peace with some friend or relation, it all adds up. Her message is still resounding. Since 1983, the volunteer group Friends of Peace Pilgrim has distributed more than a million copies of her writings in 20 languages and more than 100 countries, and a celebration of her life is observed each year in her hometown. Futility Closet really relies on the support of our listeners. We want to thank everyone who Thank you. Closet or see the Support Us section of our website. And thanks so much to everyone who helps keep Futility Closet going. We really couldn't do this without you. I covered some dog follow-ups a few episodes ago, and today I have some cat follow-ups. Rita Baker wrote, Kiora, Sharon, and Greg, Hello from New Zealand's far north. I have been first made aware of your podcast last year by a friend in the UK

Starting point is 00:15:48 and have finally gone through all the back catalog on the long drives I sometimes take here in New Zealand. I have to say, as far as podcasts go, yours is my favorite. Well done. I know you mentioned working cats a few times, and I meant to draw your attention to our celebrity cat Mittens in the capital Wellington. He has helped so many people before, during and after lockdown that he has even received the keys to the city and is now in the running to become the New Zealander of the Year, yes, along with our Prime Minister and Director General of Health, no less. He has his own

Starting point is 00:16:19 dedicated Facebook fan page where people post sightings of his many adventures and his owners are very kind of sharing him and his brother Latte with the whole world. He is well known to visit offices, he even knows how to ride elevators, the university, sports fields, and even the local church. He jumps into people's cars and on their laps for cuddles, and is generally a major celebrity in his own right. Some people even say they were on the brink of a mental breakdown, on the way to the mental health unit no less, and came across him and he helped them overcome this. What cat can say that? He is much loved and makes the news quite frequently. I popped some links to the local news stories and his Facebook page below, but he has since been covered in Worldwide Media too, if you

Starting point is 00:17:00 just pop Mittens into Google. Keep up the good work and I am looking forward to the next episode. you just pop Mittens into Google. Keep up the good work, and I am looking forward to the next episode. So Mittens even has his own Wikipedia page, which says that he wanders around the inner city suburb of Tayaro, as well as Wellington's Central Business District, or CBD, roaming up to two kilometers, or 1.2 miles, from his home. Apparently, he became rather a celebrity fairly soon after moving to Wellington in 2017 with his brother Latte and their owner Silvio Brunsma. Mittens' Facebook page was actually started by an employee of the local SPCA after the cat was repeatedly brought to the organization by concerned citizens and was intended to inform the public that he isn't lost and doesn't need rescuing. public that he isn't lost and doesn't need rescuing. The page, The Wondrous Adventures of Mittens, had over 62,000 members when I checked it recently, and has turned into a way for Wellingtonians to track the kitty's daily adventures around town. This turned out to be actually quite

Starting point is 00:17:55 useful when Mittens disappeared for a bit in February after he apparently fell asleep in a shop and got locked in when it was closed for the day. The Guardian reported that a combined effort by the group's members led to Mittens' being tracked to his last known location so that the owners of the store could be contacted to let him out. I guess they could put, don't they have GPS trackers now? Oh, I hadn't thought about that. It would be amazing to see where he goes all day. Yeah, it sounds like he roams around quite a lot.

Starting point is 00:18:20 Yeah, but apparently enough people take photos of him all day. They really don't need a GPS tracker. Mittens, a Turkish Angora whose official title is His Fluffiness, became the first non-human recipient of the key to the city back in May and was given a certificate outlining the honors bestowed upon him and a miniature key for his collar by Mayor Andy Foster, who said, the past few months have been some of the most difficult we've encountered, so we're pleased to be able to provide some light relief during this challenging time. Mittens has featured in the Wellington Advent Calendar, made the news overseas, and is the focus of thousands of selfies on his own Facebook page. He's famous for roaming the CBD,

Starting point is 00:19:00 visiting businesses and homes, bringing his brand of coolness wherever he goes. Mittens joins other famous recipients of this honor, including acclaimed cricketer Brendan McCollum, Sir Peter Jackson, and Sir Richard Taylor. Brunsma, his owner, said, Mittens has captured the heart of the city and kept smiles on the faces of many of his fans during lockdown, both here and abroad. And, as Rita noted, Mittens is also officially in the running for the New Zealander of the Year award, though he is up against some pretty stiff competition, such as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and the apparently very popular Director General of Health, Dr. Ashley Bloomfield. Also, the Guardian notes of this award that as of yet, a feline has never won.

Starting point is 00:19:40 Joking aside, a story like that is valuable, especially in times like this, you know? Yeah. People have something... Something pleasant and positive to focus on yeah long time listener bullen who said you can pronounce the name however you please sent an email with the subject line hermits and cats with jobs hello my favorite podcast i have listened to every episode so i have learned about various human hermits and cats with jobs. Today I learned about hermit cats that have their position thanks to Winston Churchill. The rules for the cat hermitage state that the cat must be a marmalade cat named Jock, who has a white bib and four socks, the latest being Jock VII of Chartwell.

Starting point is 00:20:18 Greg had actually run a short item on his blog on this topic back in 2013, but I didn't remember it at all, so thanks to Bullen for sending it. Winston Churchill, who was apparently quite fond of animals, was given a moggy as a present for his 88th birthday by his private secretary, Sir John Jock Colville, two years before Churchill's death in 1965. The cat, who was named for the secretary, was the last in a line of pets that Churchill had had over his life and lived with Sir Winston and Lady Churchill in their Kent home of Chartwell. Jock became quite a favorite with Churchill, and The Telegraph reports that Churchill would only begin eating when Jock was at the table and would take him everywhere,

Starting point is 00:20:58 including his grandson's wedding, where he sat on his master's lap. The Telegraph also quotes Catherine Carter, Chartwell's house and collections manager, as saying of Churchill, his animals were like an extended family. When Churchill's family left Chartwell to the National Trust in 1966, they requested that there always be a cat of similar coloring named Jock in residence, a request that has continued to be honored, bringing them up in May to Jock the Seventh, a six-month-old rescue kitten previously named Sunshine, who was brought in to replace Jock the Sixth after that kitty had lost his sight and was finding a more public life to be rather challenging. Jock the Sixth has now retired to a quieter, more peaceful life with Catherine Carter.

Starting point is 00:21:39 Jock the Seventh was rescued by the RSPCA along with 30 other kittens from rather wretched conditions. The kittens were said to have been weak and undernourished, but young enough to be quickly brought back to health. The current jock was chosen from the group because he appeared to be the most confident as well as playful and full of fun. He's described as mischievous and very friendly and said to enjoy chasing butterflies, investigating what the gardeners are doing, cuddling on the sofa, and jumping out of bushes at unsuspecting visitors. He's also particularly fond of peanut butter, which proves useful for finding him when he

Starting point is 00:22:11 disappears. And a cat liking peanut butter is a new one on me, but hey, you know, whatever works. What I like about that story is that if you squint, it's sort of the cat has kind of an indistinct immortality, because they all look somewhat the same and they all have the same name. It sort of seems, I guess that's what Churchill wanted. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:22:28 And staying in the UK, Christopher Curtis wrote, a little sad, but I saw this story today and thought you might like to hear about the wonderfully named Dorkin's Magnificat, yet another example of a stray cat

Starting point is 00:22:40 who decided to take over a venerable and significant British institution, in this case, Southwark Cathedral, just next to the Thames at London Bridge. That part of London has been there since well before the Romans arrived, and there has been a cathedral on that spot for many centuries. Best wishes. And Christopher sent a link to the blog of Peter Black,

Starting point is 00:22:59 a member of the City and County of Swansea Council in Wales, who posted on his blog recently, The Times reports the sad death of one of the paper's County of Swansea Council in Wales, who posted on his blog recently, The Times reports the sad death of one of the paper's most popular neighbors. Dorkins Magnificat, the splendidly named chief mouser at Southwark Cathedral, has died peacefully in the arms of the verger she had been living with since retiring from ecclesiastical duties last year. The Southwark Cathedral website tells the story of how in 2008 a stray cat started waiting at the cathedral each morning for food and after being fed there for a few days the kitty decided

Starting point is 00:23:31 that the cathedral would be her new home. Luckily the church vergers concurred and she became the cathedral website says very much part of the cathedral fabric and was popular with the congregation visitors and staff. A number of visitors came to the cathedral just to see her, and she has even had the honor to entertain Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The site also says, in October 2017, Dworkins published her first book, which gives a complete tour of the cathedral and a typical week in the life of our self-proclaimed Magnificat. Dworkins died on September 30th after retiring at the end of 2019 due to her failing eyesight. When I was looking into this, the cathedral was planning to hold a Thanksgiving

Starting point is 00:24:10 service for her on October 28th, and they had started a book of memories for people to leave their stories and pictures of her, in which Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, wrote, Southwark Cathedral is part of the fabric of London, and Dworkin's is part and parcel of the Southwark Cathedral family. I have very fond memories of my visits to Southwark commenting on Dworkin's passing said, pleasure and much joy to her many fans and followers. She met Her Majesty the Queen and was present at more services than most of us. She was photographed by thousands of people and had a book written about her. She has been a blessing to us in so many ways. We will miss her. That's a great name. Dorkin's Magnificat. Thanks so much to everyone who writes to us. We learn so many fascinating

Starting point is 00:25:02 things from our listeners. So if you have anything to share with us, please send that to podcast at futilitycloset.com. It's Greg's turn to try to solve a lateral thinking puzzle. I'm going to give him an interesting situation, and he's going to work out what's going on, asking yes or no questions. And he's smiling because I said he's going to work out. Because you said I would. He's going to try to work out what's going on. In the U.S., the least common day for a baby to be born is Christmas Day. In fact, 30 to 40% fewer babies are born on this day than on the days that have the most births. How is it that so many fewer babies end up with Christmas as their birthday? Okay, nine months before Christmas is March sometime.

Starting point is 00:25:52 That doesn't sound very inauspicious. So I'm going to go the other direction and say there's some reason like hospitals aren't open. I hope that's not it. No, I can't imagine that hospitals aren't open. So it's not that there's less access to medical care for people to deliver those. That's correct. That's not it.

Starting point is 00:26:07 Well, you'd still give birth anyway. Yeah, you'd still give birth anyway, right. I like the puzzle. So just to get this really, this might be a technical point. You said that significantly fewer American babies are born on Christmas Day than other days of the year. Yeah, 30 to 40% fewer.

Starting point is 00:26:28 So it's a really significant number. Let me ask, is it that fewer are conceived? No, that can't be for a single day. That's not it. Does that have something to do with the reckoning of time? That doesn't make sense either. No. I don't even know how that would work.

Starting point is 00:26:41 No. So, oh, is it that the births aren't registered until the day after because oh that's an interesting thought no no because then you would still end up with christmas as your birthday right i mean so it actually is that many fewer babies have christmas as their actual birthday okay does, I have to be really careful, does that mean fewer actual babies are physically born on that day? Yes. Does this happen in other countries as well? It does. And, wow, what a good puzzle, I don't even know what to ask. And wow, what a good puzzle.

Starting point is 00:27:23 I don't even know what to ask. Are the normal number of babies born on the days after and before Christmas? So it's not like a little bell curve or something? Actually, it's probably, I would say that the days before and after Christmas are probably lower than normal, but Christmas is even lower. Does this happen on other days of the year? Yes. Holidays? Yes.

Starting point is 00:27:52 See, that just sounds like it's either got to be. Is it, this is a ridiculous question, is it somehow that the mothers suppress the birth? No. That doesn't make any sense. All right, so it's not that they don't have access to care, and it's not that the births or the time is reckoned differently. So what else is there?

Starting point is 00:28:24 If your babies are born on Christmas Day, the ones that would normally, like let's say this phenomenon didn't obtain and it was just even across the board. Okay. There'd be a certain number of babies that would be expected to be born on Christmas Day. Yes.

Starting point is 00:28:40 And those aren't being born. Some of them. I mean, some are still being born. Right. But of the ones who aren't, are they born on the 26th, like afterward? Some of them maybe, but maybe even a little bit later. Okay, but that's where they're going. They're arriving a bit later than...

Starting point is 00:28:59 No, some of them might be a day or two before Christmas. But they're not landing on Christmas. They're not Christmas. But they're not landing on Christmas. They're not. A significant number are not landing on Christmas. Does this have to do with Santa Claus? No, it doesn't have to do with Santa Claus. I don't know what he could even do about it. Is it psychological somehow?

Starting point is 00:29:20 No. If we abolished Christmas, would this stop happening? Yes. Like if we stopped celebrating Christmas as a holiday, if we just decided Christmas was not a holiday anymore, then yes, more babies would be born on December 25th. If we started a new holiday on May 4th. And it was a really big holiday that everybody was celebrating? Yeah. We'd have fewer birth holiday on May 4th. And it was a really big holiday that everybody was celebrating? Yeah. We'd have fewer births on May 4th.

Starting point is 00:29:50 Is it, okay, let's say we did that. Okay. Is it because people's lives are different on holidays? Like they just conduct themselves differently? They don't go to work? I don't know why that would have any bearing on it. No, that's not it. Well, what is it about a holiday, unless it's literally how you reckon the birth?

Starting point is 00:30:15 Is there a hint you can give me? I just can't think of how else even to go at this. I think you're making an assumption. I'm trying to think how to even word a hint. Births of human babies. Births of human babies, yes. And there's more planning involved sometimes than you're reckoning on. In a birth? Yeah. Not always, but...

Starting point is 00:30:42 But you'd... I mean, you would... To actually physically give birth to the child... Well, the baby is born, yeah. The normal number of babies are born on the 25th, is that what you're saying?

Starting point is 00:30:55 No, no, no, no. The baby is born, and then eventually... But, yeah. The birth is registered somewhere formally. Yes, yes. Yeah, no, it's that there's many more births are planned than I think you realize.

Starting point is 00:31:14 Are planned to take place? I don't understand what you mean by that. Yes, yeah. About a third of American babies are born via cesarean section, and another quarter of births are induced. So they're actually planned for specific days. I see. Doctors don't usually schedule these for Christmas Day or other holidays, so New Year's is the second least common birthday in the U.S. Christmas is also the least popular day to have a baby in Australia and New Zealand,

Starting point is 00:31:40 while in England, Wales, and Ireland, December 26th, or Boxing Day, is the least common day. Also in England, Wales, and New Zealand, 26th, or Boxing Day, is the least common day. Also, in England, Wales, and New Zealand, relatively few babies are born on April 1st, apparently due to the connotations of April Fool's Day. That's totally valid. So just more births are actually scheduled than you realize. We are always on the lookout for more lateral thinking puzzles, so if you have any you'd like to send in for us, please send those to podcast at futilitycloset.com.

Starting point is 00:32:11 Just a reminder that we'll be off next week. In the meantime, if you become one of the awesome supporters of our show, you can check out some bonus content like outtakes, extra lateral thinking puzzles, more discussions on some of the stories and peeks behind the scenes of the show. If you're interested, please see our Patreon page at patreon.com slash futilitycloset, or see the support us section of our website at futilitycloset.com. While you're at the site, you can also graze through Greg's collection of over 11,000 quirky curiosities. Browse the Futility Closet store, learn about the Futility Closet

Starting point is 00:32:45 books, and see the show notes for the podcast with links and references for the topics we've covered. If you have any comments or feedback for us, you can always email us at podcast at futilitycloset.com. Our music was written and performed by my incredible brother-in-law, Doug Ross. Thanks for listening, and we'll be back in two weeks.

Futility Closet - 318-Peace Pilgrim

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