Why does it take so long to get a haircut on Lag B'omer? Because of all the barber queues....

I think I dined out on that joke for about 6 months. 

But seriously, what is this day about? It is referred to in various places for various reasons. It is surely not enough to say that 'hooray, Rabbi Akiva's students stopped dying'. Indeed, as my Rebbe R' Moshe pointed out, they only stopped dying because there was none left to die! And, taking into account Shabbos and Yom tov, there would have been around a thousand funerals going on each day. Eerily germane to out current situation. Hardly a cause to celebrate - and muted at best. 

No there must be something more. Something in recognising כבוד - respect (the discerning ones will already note the numeric depth here). See it in others, have it in yourself. Ascribe it to Heaven (You will find part of the secret of the Omer itself here too - we give G-d the Omer and He gave us the same, every day in the desert). You will see where the Source of it all is. Then you will begin to understand the light that was revealed by one of the survivors (or successors, depending on when they became his students) - Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai. The day of his passing revealed to us huge secrets of the Oral Law - on the day which signifies the Torah Shel Baal Peh and כבוד at its maximum - Hod she'behod.