Rabbit Rabbit Day
When I was a kid, I used to go to a neighbor’s house all the time. She was an only child, and I lived with eleven other people, so I loved escaping the noise and bustle and general insanity that was par for the course at my house. We’d play Barbies or two-person Clue (I know, sounds ridiculous, but somehow we managed to do it) or just watch TV. We watched a lot of the USA Network for some reason – I think they had really cheesy kids game shows on in the afternoons or something – but they also showed these short one minute segments called “In A Minute”:
(To this day, when I hear anyone say, “In a minute,” that helium-laced loop at the beginning of the clip plays in my mind.)
Anyway, one time they had a segment on Rabbit Rabbit Day. This is the first day of every month, and supposedly if you say the words “Rabbit rabbit” as soon as you wake up, before anything else, you’ll have good luck the rest of the month.
The first time I ever told my boyfriend about Rabbit Rabbit Day, he basically told me that I was crazy and superstitious. I considered this. Crazy? No, not anymore than the next person. Superstitious? Yes. If I’m watching a Steelers game with you, and you remark at how incredibly well the team is playing, I will kill you with my eyes. Seriously, I’ll cut you. Because you just don’t do things like that. Not even if the score is 532-0 and there’s ten seconds left to play and we have possession of the ball and God has come down from the heavens and decreed that the Steelers will emerge victorious from the game. To say the Steelers are playing well is jinxing it, and they’ll immediately fumble the ball and the other team will score 533 points in those ten seconds and God will just go back to that big stadium in the sky and then probably strike you with a lightning bolt because you jinxed the Steelers. And everyone knows God’s a Steelers fan.
Getting back to the point, since tonight is the last night of the month, that makes tomorrow Rabbit Rabbit Day. And I did some poking around on the Internets (read: Googled “rabbit rabbit day”) and found out that it’s actually a thing. With a history. At least 600 years of history, actually, and maybe even 800.
Is it still superstitious? Of course. Will I forget to say it in the morning? It’s quite possible. I’d say there’s a fifty percent chance. But do I feel just a bit validated and maybe even a tad smug that Wikipedia has given me a factual basis for these two little words I’ve known of since I was a kid? You bet your ass I do.
I’ve heard a variation of this that says you’re supposed to make a wish before you go to bed on the last day of the month, and saying “rabbit, rabbit” will make your wish come true *and* bring you good luck.
My family likes to do it even more differently — we wish each other a “happy white rabbit day”. Luckily for me, it’s not one of those say-it-first-thing things.
I want pinball machines, that’s cool. Dozens of machines at any time, but from an inventory of hundreds, cycling through the year.
How did Pinball Machine Designer escape my earlier aspirations? I’ve wanted to be so many things, and it never occurred to me that I could/should pursue that? I’ve always felt there is untapped potential in the pinball gaming arena..
I’m too old to have watched kids stuff on USA Network, but I seem to recall (as in I associate the phrase with the sound of..) In A Minute and in an even higher pitched voice.
As for “Rabbit Rabbit”: Were you successful this month? If so I’m impressed/saddened. No one can really think first thing when they wake. You can train yourself to do lots of stuff with out thinking. To train oneself a behavior for exactly twelve ocurrances annually! Geez.
I can imagine you executing this bizarre habit/reflex without warning your boyfriend. Hah. THEN he’d think you’re crazy, if he was even capable of recognizing the monthly frequency.
“Good morning, dear. Wait. Did you just say ‘Rabbit Rabbit’? Were you awake? You know, you said that last month too!”
I actually was successful this month! Usually it helps if Boyf is traveling on the first of the month. When he’s here, usually my first words are, “Good morning.” When he’s not here, I usually remember after a few minutes that it’s Rabbit Rabbit Day and say it out loud.