The “I told you so” calendar

I have often said that the four best words in the English language are “I told you so.” People scoff at the assertion, but I have yet to hear four words that are better.

As a result of my fondness for the expression, I have created an “I told you so” Google calendar, set up specifically for time-stamped opportunities to say “I told you so” to someone I know and love.

While not going into specifics, an entry on this calendar might result from an encounter like this:

I’m talking to a Red Sox fan mid-season. Boston is in first place and their closer, Jonathan Palelbon, is pitching lights out, while the Yankees closer, Mariano Rivera, is struggling. I assert that by the end of the year, Rivera will have overtaken Papelbon in saves, and the Red Sox fan laughs at me, telling me I have no objectivity when it comes to baseball.

As soon as possible, I open a browser on my phone or laptop and access my calendar. I scroll ahead to September, and on the closing day of the major league season, I make an entry in my “I told you so” calendar, reminding me to call the Red Sox fan on that day if Rivera has indeed overtaken Papelbon in saves.

While this is not exactly what happened, something very close to it did and I was able to make that utterly joyous “I told you so” call on the last day of the season.

It was such great fun.

I was telling my mother-in-law about this calendar when it dawned upon me that she also has an entry on the calendar, due to arrive sometime later this year. My father-in-law has at least two entries on the calendar, one as far away as 2020.

While she desperately wanted to know what the entry related to her was, I refused, assuring her that she would find out in due time.