OPINION: Okay For Real, What’s Good With These National Holidays?!
By Brahmjot Kaur
The following article appeared in the November 2019 edition of The Campus.
Okay what are these random holidays that your Aunt Kathy orCousin Joe are posting about on Facebook? Every month, we see a new post onInstagram or a different social media app with a caption like “Happy NationalGarlic Day!!” or “Happy National Give Your Daughter Money Day!” and I thinkmany of us, myself included, find it is getting a little ridiculous. I mean wehave “National Drinking Straw Day” and “National Pi Day,” not to be confusedwith “National Pie Day” though which is actually in January.
How do these randomholidays even become a thing?
After doing a little digging, a book known as Chase’s Calendar of Events is foundrepeatedly in other online articles. It is a reference book with over 12,500events, holidays, and anniversaries. The book has been circulating since 1957with a new edition every year. The senior editor at Chase’s, Holly McGuire,told The New York Times that atfirst, it was the government who compiled the holidays. Then, they got tired ofit and Chase’s was given the honorary baton of holiday-ing up the country. Inreality, anyone can make up a holiday. A lot of people will try to establish aday as a holiday the old-fashioned way, which is by asking an elected officialto make it a day.
I tried looking for a PDF or an affordably priced version ofChase’s book and to be honest, for a book of national holidays, it sure itdifficult to find without selling your arms on the black market. So, I optedfor the next best thing. Some websites vary in their lists of Novemberholidays, probably since there’s so many. I’d like to share some of my favoritefrom this month.
Here are a fewholidays that made me raise an eyebrow this November:
11/2: National PlanYour Epitaph Day (Morbid but seemsfun, I guess)
11/3: NationalSandwich Day
11/6: NationalMarooned without a Compass Day (???)
11/7: BittersweetChocolate with Almonds Day (a bitlong for a title but okay, they taste pretty good)
11/13: World KindnessDay (Kinda corny, but I think withthe current climate we’re in, maybe it would be a nice reminder)
11/14: SpicyGuacamole Day (I think mild guacamoleand medium guacamole are due an apology)
11/17: Homemade BreadDay (sponsored by the Homemade BreadDay Committee of Montague, MI which is wild because I didn’t think anyone wasthis passionate about bread)
11/29: Square DanceDay (Apparently a lot of peoplelearned square dancing in gym class and I just have one question: why is squaredancing so significant that high schools are teaching this nationally? I don’tremember learning this, but I also have two left feet.)
I understand that these random holidays are probably justploys from different groups and companies to attract business or make a point,but it can be nice to change your daily routine and add a piece of bittersweetchocolate with almonds here and a touch of spicy guacamole there. I agree someof these seem like a reach but sometimes we need to appreciate the small thingsin life, too. I really enjoy homemade bread. Homemade bread tastessignificantly better than store-bought factory bread that you would find in thebread aisle at the grocery store. However, it doesn’t cross my mind normally.Maybe we should consider adding a little razzle dazzle in what is normally an averageNovember, or any other month for that matter. National Plan Your Epitaph Daymay be a little morbid, but it really gets the creative juices flowing. Will Iwant a quote? Maybe I’ll add something creative like a tried and true recipefor a good cupcake since I love cupcakes, or maybe I’ll be sassy with somethinglike “Wow, it’s really dark down here,” or maybe I’ll just get cremated.Whichever way the cookie really crumbles, planning your epitaph seems fun andwould be a real laugh with your friends.
Let’s be clear, some of these holidays really are whack. I’mjust saying how it is. But you know what? It’s fun. So, stay whack, y’all.
