Reporter Finds Lucky Number

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By Matt Haber

August 4, 2008 | 8:44 a.m.

8 is Enough: Lee

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via fortunecookiechronicles.com

Move over, man dates. (You too, massive manatee!) Not your week, Nevaehs. In Sunday's New York Times Style section, reporter and fortune cookie chronicler Jennifer 8. Lee wrote the story she was born to cover: "Marry Me at 8 on the 8th, O.K.?," all about the glut of weddings scheduled by Chinese and Chinese-American couples on the luckiest day of the year: 8/8/08.

Ms. Lee writes:

[T]his fortuitous Friday is not only the chosen date of the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympics; it has also been circled in red by many couples...

Chinese people find the 8’s highly desirable for cellphone numbers, license plates, prices (and this reporter’s byline).

According to Ms. Lee, whose name has been the object of fascination for bloggers and Stephen Colbert, "Elite Island Resorts, an umbrella group of Caribbean properties, observed many customer inquiries about that date, it designed an 08/08/08 wedding deal" and "Las Vegas hotels are advertising $888 and $1,888 wedding packages, or deals for the first 88 couples."

Line up your man dates now, fellas.