There are many excuses to celebrate. And it seems there are even more reasons to set aside a certain month, week, day or even hour of the year as special.
For example, last week was both Bicycle Safety Week and Saskatchewan Mining Week. Contained within the week were a number of special days, such as National Hamburger Day (May 28th) and My Bucket's Got A Hole In It Day (May 30th).
I can assure you that each moment of our lives has been pre-declared by somebody who wants a date dedicated to a cause. February is heart month. Earth hour this year was on March 27th. My birthday is in August. (Just throwing that one out there.)
It can be overwhelming trying to keep up with the special dates. What colour should I be wearing? (Red, on Fridays if you support Canadian troops.) Which charity should I be donating to? (All of them, apparently.) Can I buy a coffee today? (Yes, if it's Tim Horton's Camp Day. No, if it's Buy Nothing Day.)
Some days are designated in recognition of certain types of people. There is Administrative Professional's Day, International Nurse's Day, and of course the staple mother and father's days.
Special recognition days are nice enough, but I can't shake the feeling they're getting a little out of hand. After all, there are a mere 365 days in the year. We will eventually run out.
These awareness campaigns invading the calendar range from serious diseases to inanimate objects. At this point, somebody could walk up to me in all seriousness and say today is the start of Air-Conditioning Appreciation Days. But that would be a lie, because Air-Conditioning Appreciation does not start until July 3rd.
Before we know it, the whole world will be confusing Library Card Sign-Up Month with Pet First Aid Awareness Month.
How can we solve this ever growing problem? The only suggestion I can think of is one my sister and I devised to help us remember which months hosted each greeting card holiday.
Instead of saying January 3rd, we said New Year's 3rd. February 6th became Valentine's 6th. Boxing Day falls on Christmas 26th.
Still following? Now if we subdivide the months into weeks, and the weeks into days, we can formulate a properly labeled date.
For example, June 9th would be either Surf Music the 9th, Sun Safety the 3rd or Donald Duck Day.
Too complicated? I think so too.
What if each day was just a day, free from labels. A day without a brand or a logo. What would we call such a day?
Ask me tomorrow. Today is deadline day.
