It's May 22nd. Awkwaaard, Harold Camping!

How did you spend the "end of the world"? I was at a craps table in Atlantic City. Not that I believed in one iota of Harold Camping's doomsday prophecy, but at least if it did come true, I would feel better about losing my money to the casino. Plus, I figured there could be some gambling addicted rapture believers there, and willing to give me some money at around 5:30ish.

When 6:00 came and went, my wallet was a couple hundred bucks lighter, but (gasp!) the earth was still turning. How I would love a snapshot of Camping's awkward expression when his clock struck 6:01 and he stood there in his apoca-pajamas, having realized that the end of the world had not materialized in the form of a ravaging flood, devistating earthquake, or mass viewing of Justin Bieber: Never Say Never.

While I was bummed over my bad night at the craps table, some of Camping's followers must have felt downright despair on May 22nd when they woke up and realized that heaven looked an awful lot like their bedroom. Unfortunately, some of Harold Camping's devotees may have taken the prophecy a hair too far. "Many of them dropped out of medical schools, quit their jobs, left their family members, squandered all their savings in order to join in the caravan fleets that traveled the U.S. to spread the message. Over $3 million was spent on raising awareness of Doomsday," reports the International Business Times.

As preposterous as I find the fact that people were willing to sacrifice so much over an aging radio preacher's self-proposed theory (2,011 + 391 - 1 = 2,401, or 7 x 7 x 7 x 7 = end of the world! Apparently it's in the Bible, somewhere), I do feel a certain level of sympathy for the people who were willing to give up everything because they needed so badly something to believe in. I also feel a certain level of anger, or at least mild annoyance, at Harold Camping for manipulating people into believing his lies. For the second time, no less; he made a similar prediction in 1994. It's nice that we are willing to give doomsday prophets a second chance.

I am all for freedom of speech and religion, as outlined in our Constitution. But we should adhere to the limitations, such as speech that creates "dangerous situations." Just as you can't yell "fire!" in a crowded movie theater, or "bomb!" in an airport, you should not be allowed to display massive billboards touting the end of mankind. A news program I watched on Friday night interviewed therapists who gave advice on how to calm children who believed Saturday would be the end. Some of the children cried when they saw the prediction on tv. One young boy could not hide his disappointment over the fact that the end was coming on, of all days, a Saturday.

As for me, I'm just happy that I wasn't turned into a pillar of salt. Salt dries my skin.