Pointless holidays are a desensitizing process
Groundhog Day. Aside from being a fantastic film, it’s also an amusing holiday. Once a year Puxatawney Phil comes out from the Gobbler’s Knob, to tell us whether or not we have six more weeks of winter.
But some interesting facts are usually unknown. For instance, Puxatawney Phil’s name is actually Puxatawney Phil, Seer of Seers, Sage of Sages, Prognosticator of Prognosticators and Weather Prophet Extraordinary? Also, the Gobbler’s Knob is not a real tree stump, we’ve been fooled for years, it’s actually a heated burrow under a simulated tree stump.
But nevertheless Puxatawney Phil is a legend, and every year there are “a thousand people freezing their butts off waiting to worship a rat,”as mentioned by Bill Murray in the film “Groundhog Day.”
What is really a pointless exercise of false philosophy, and quite frankly, bogus logic from German tradition, is a celebrated day in our society.
This begs the question, what the heck are we really celebrating?
The United States has multiple holidays for every day of the year. Last week’s issue for instance, on Jan. 26, was “National Chocolate Cake Day” and it was also “Intimate Apparel Week.”
Sure, so Victoria’s Secret can get some extra business, but there’s no real benefit for the rest of us ladies aside from an empty wallet. Come on guys, I think you can wait another two weeks until Valentine’s Day.
Tomorrow is the “Day the Music Died” in commemoration of the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Big Bopper, and Richie Vallens in 1959. Next week we have “Toothache Day.”
Why can’t we have more holidays like the Fourth of July? The celebration of a new country is certainly worth taking a day off work. There’s nothing better then celebrating the birth ofwith fireworks, booze, and hot dogs.
Holidays are meant to be fun, special occasions that are meant to bring family and friends together, and sometimes strangers even come together for a single ideal and/or event.
When we have days like “International Dog Biscuit Appreciation Day,” it all becomes a joke. I like dogs as much as the next person, but some people are just taking these loves and turning them into obsessions, and it’s just not healthy guys.
When you have so many holidays consecutively, it takes away from the meaning of a holiday. It desensitizes us to what is really important. Truthfully speaking, even Christmas has turned into a consumer holiday.
The reason we have Christmas trees is because people “back in the day” didn’t take baths, and the pine tree was a nice distraction from the stench that normally permeated the room.
As most people know, February is Black History Month, but doesn’t anyone else find it a bit demeaning that February is National Grapefruit Month as well?
So next week I invite you all to grab our third issue, which will have a Black History Month theme. Forget about “Umbrella Day,” and think about holidays that actually have meaning and deserve our respect and participation.