Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia?

I have been so wrapped up in my money issues that I missed out on the potential for the Apocalypse yesterday!!! Yesterday's date was the 6th of June, 2006, otherwise known as 6-6-06. Take out the 0 and you've got the day of the BEAST! The end of days! The Lord is coming back!!! The Anti Christ is here!! Run run!

Oh my word, y'all. Come on.

People honestly thought that the END WAS NEAR yesterday. Planes would drop out of the sky! ATM cards would stop working! Your computer will rise up and eat your head!!! RUN RUN RUN!

Sorry, got caught up in the hype there for a sec.

Apparently mothers-to-be did whatever they could to avoid having their babies born yesterday. People stayed home, cancelled flights, all of this because of a number. A NUMBER, that according to many scholars of the symbolism behind numbers, refers to Nero, the mad Caesar of Rome. This article puts it very well indeed:

Indeed, if you're still reading this article, you've already proved quite a few people wrong. Because, according to the conspiracy theorists, we should already have been visited by some quite nasty plagues by now. What's more, all copies of The Scotsman should have been consumed by fire, thanks to the giant comet that's due to strike the Earth. And, just supposing that the paper did survive all that, your attention would have been grabbed by the blinding sight of the Lamb of God transporting 144,000 Christian virgins up to heaven - leaving the rest of us to tidy up the mess.

Now, I agree that everyone has a right to their beliefs...I'll be the first one to let you prattle on to me about your political beliefs and convictions, ideas that I may think are so backwards that I'm amazed you can get out of bed in the morning without help...but they are yours and I don't have the right to tell you that you are wrong. However...this stuff strikes a chord with me, probably because of my upbringing in the church and because of my exposure to "church people..."

How many of you checked over your shoulder yesterday just to see if you might catch a glimpse of the fire and brimstone laden four horsemen, sent to devour us all that we may meet our Maker? How many clucked their tongues sadly at those of differing religious faiths or lifestyles, knowing that those poor souls were condemned to the flames that were no doubt on the move to consume the less-than-righteous among us? The "Left Behind" people published something yesterday to "counter" the re-release of "the Omen." Y'all, it's a movie!!! Say it with me, MOVIE. As in not real. As in fiction. As in you just made yourselves out to be hysteria-mongers with your counter-release.

Ugh. Hey...maybe that's the source of all my money issues...hmmm...I wonder if an attack of Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia (fear of the number 666, see the link in the title for a slightly credible web page) would be good enough reason for a medical leave of absence from work...?