Michelson
was in port at Belfast one Sunday in late March of 1963. Some of the
navy guys decided that it would be nice to phone home to their moms for
Mothers Day. Altogether they went to the post office, which was the
place to make calls if you had no phone. On any other day this
expedition might have been a stop on the way to a pub, but bars were
closed on Sundays. They discovered that, upon reaching their moms, that
this was not mothers day at all. It seems that what they were told was
correct, Sunday March 24, 1963 was Mothers Day in the UK, the fourth
Sunday of lent. However, in the USA it is not observed until the second
Sunday of May. All their moms said something like "thanks for calling anyway", "nice to hear your voice" and "what a nice gesture; you are very thoughtful". Oh well.
