No one gets much for free in life, so it's easy to feel slighted if you lose three-quarters of your birthdays just by being born on Feb. 29. That's a lot of cakes.

And some birthdays are too important to lose. ''I wasn't able to drink until March 1. That just wasn't fair to me,'' says Corinna Troxell of Allentown, whose leap age is 7 and actual age is 28. For this story, we'll refer to people's ages by the number of their leap year birthdays.

''When I was applying for my driver's license, the state computer would not accept my birthday and I couldn't get my permit until four months after,'' says Whitney Berrio, 7, of Allentown.Legally speaking, people born on Feb. 29 age along with the rest of us. It's just assumed they get a year older every year about this time, whether their birthday is on the calendar or not. By celebrating their birthdays on Feb. 28 in non-leap-years, ''strict Februarians'' may be technically incorrect, but so are those who celebrate March 1.

Today is the extra day added to the calendar once every four years. This is needed because the Earth takes a little more than one year to circle the sun -- about one-quarter day more. Adding the extra day keeps the seasons in sync with their calendar dates.

According to the Honor Society of Leap Year Babies, about 200,000 Americans were born on Leap Day, but other than their birthdays, Leap Day babies have practically nothing in common. Serial killer Aileen Wuornos, orchestra leader Jimmy Dorsey, and Chris Devine, Allen High School grad and Olympics diving hopeful, are but three with widely divergent claims to fame.

One of the few benefits of being born on Feb. 29 is that it's a good conversation starter. ''For the most part, people don't know anyone born on a Leap Day, so they always have questions,'' says Gerald McGlinn, 7, of Bethlehem. That they are always the same questions may become a little stale.

''I hear the same three over and over,'' he says: '''When do you celebrate, Feb. 28th or March 1st?' 'I never met someone born on that day,' and 'So that makes you how old?'''

But since it's often a topic, ''most people don't forget my birthday,'' says Ursula Riseborough of Allentown, who celebrates her 21st leap year birthday today. Her last birthday four years ago was the big one, however. ''My daughters gave me a big party and invited all the members of my church.''

And the birthday keeps leapers young and closer to their children and grandchildren. This year, Carol Graver of Summit Hill is celebrating her ''Sweet 16'' birthday along with her granddaughter, who will be celebrating her real ''Sweet 16'' birthday in May.

''For both of my kids, one of their best birthdays was when they could finally say 'I'm older than my mom.' For my son, it was just a few years ago because he is 14. When he turned 12 and I was still 11, it was funny for them,'' says Shari Spark, 12, of Allentown.

And for every disgruntled leaper, there are those who turn lemons into lemonade. ''I love my birthday. It has always made me feel special!'' says Corryn Kronnagel, 7, of Morristown, Bucks County. ''On non-leap years, I actually celebrate my birthday on Feb. 28th and March 1st. Since I don't get my own day, I take two!''

Jennifer Walton, 7, of Northampton says she feels slighted most birthdays, but makes up for it in Leap Years. ''That's when I say let's give out the big presents.'' By Monday morning, she'd already had two birthday parties. ''They had to do them early,'' she says. ''They were surprises.''

Whitney Berrio of Allentown found someone to celebrate with when her cousin, Anneice Pratt, 6, was born on Feb. 29, four years to the day after she was. ''Having two leap year babies in one family has always been both fun and difficult,'' says Berrio.

Pratt takes a more pragmatic approach. ''A lot of people make a bigger deal out of it than I do sometimes.''

Today, Leap Day babies will make up the entire audience for ''The Martha Stewart Show.'' Martha's invitation was posted on several Web sites, including http://www.leapyearday.com , a treasure trove of all things Leap. ''Our main goal is to spread leap year day awareness,'' says Raenell Dawn of Keizer, Ore., who's been working for 20 years to get Leap Day on calendars. ''Calendar companies continually miss it,'' she says.

The day needn't be celebrated as a holiday, she continues, but if it's acknowledged more, children born on Feb. 29 won't feel as neglected. People with Leap Day birthdays often are moved to grateful tears when they find her site, she says.

The site links to pages for parents and teachers, a ''leaptionary'' of leap words, sites for comments on the battle with official forms, the Honor Society of Leap Year Babies, a birthday club with thousands of members, and Feb. 29 sites on MySpace and Yahoo.

There's even a Leap Year Museum page, because at one time, Leap Day was much more of an official day. ''In the late 1800s and early 1900s, in Victorian times, leap year balls were held to give women a lovely atmosphere in which to propose to a man,'' says Dawn about the custom that grew out of folklore in Ireland and Scotland.

And because special birthdays require special cards, the Leap This shop (see Web address on E1) obliges with dozens of different cards and clothing items with Leap Day messages, like ''Celebrate mine on 2-29,'' and ''My birthday's not on the calendar.''

Maybe it's just because we all could use a reason to celebrate, but leapers seem to be getting a little more attention this year, as well as a free lunch. Papa John's is giving anyone born today a free pizza, and Boston Market is giving leapers a full meal.

Shari Spark of Allentown can relate. ''It's not that I feel that I'm deprived, but when it comes around, we definitely make a big deal.''

LEAP ON THIS

Free lunch for leapers

Papa John's is giving away a free, one-topping pan pizza to anyone celebrating a birthday today.

Boston Market is giving away a free individually-sized Boston Market meal, up to $10 in value.

Everything Leap Year  http://www.leapyearday.com