SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Feb. 29, 2016 (Gephardt Daily) — An estimated 187,000 people in the United States were born on a leap day, and we found a couple Utahns to explain how it feels to be born on the rarest day of the year — or technically, every four years.
Randy Harward, a student at Salt Lake Community College, knows all too well what having a birthday on Feb. 29 means, and says he actually enjoys being a leap year baby.
“Out of so many possible birthdays, mine is the most rare. I don’t get screwed over like people who are born on Christmas Day and get those terrible birthday-Christmas combo cop-out presents,” Harward says.
“In fact, since people are confused about when I celebrate it, it’s like having two birthdays. I hear ‘happy birthday’ on February 28 and March 1, which is when I celebrate it on off-years.”
Harward adds that when leap year comes around, he knows it’s really his birthday because the parties get bigger, and it’s always fun to find someone else who shares the special birthday with him.
Cameron Spotten of Spanish Fork is another lucky leap year baby who knows just how different celebrating his birthday can be.
“I always pick a random day of the year, like 4th of July or Groundhog Day, to celebrate my birthday,” Spotten says. “My friends and family always know that I pick a different day of year every year except when Leap Day actually arrives. That’s when we definitely go big.”
This year Spotten says a frog-themed birthday party and free pizza will be part of his big celebration.
“We are going to serve Chinese take-out, pizza, 20 cheeseburgers and fries from McDonald’s and green frog cupcakes. Everything an 11-year-old would want.” Spotten said. “I’ve already had a preschool come sing “happy birthday” to me this morning and got some awesome Whip Nae/Nae birthday greeting,”
And next time, Spotton says, “I want to ride the zipline on Freemont Street in Vegas.”
Having a birthday on Leap Day can also nab people some discounts around the valley. Places including McDonald’s, Olive Garden, Pizza Hut, and Hard Rock Cafe all offer free or discounts items with proof that Feb. 29 is your big day.
While there are some minor drawbacks — for example, being asked by other people if it’s like the movie, or being reminded that it’s not their real birthday during non-leap years — leap day birthdays are a unique event in which only a select few can take pride.
Celebrities who share this famous birthday are Ja Rule, Mark Foster, Antonio Sabato Jr., Dinah Shore, Tony Robbins, Peter Scanavino and Dennis Farina.
