This is my favorite ironic holiday. We celebrate the working men and women of this country by doing the American thing - we declare a holiday and take the day off. I've said several times before that this day would be more appropriately aimed at women in labor - but I guess Mother's Day kind of covers that one...sort of.
Oh sure there are other ironic holidays - we celebrate a Scottish missionary to Ireland who was first a slave, and later went back to serve, and his life by drinking green beer - You can see the obvious connection there.
We celebrate Jesus being born in a simple barn - the God of the Universe coming humbly to give us a glimpse of His love for us....so we go out and buy a bunch of crap in malls filled with toys made by kids in sweat shops.
The #1 day for collect calls each year is Father's day...that's kind of funny.
We celebrate the beginning of the Christian liturgical calendar of lent with Mardi Gras...
We celebrate Thanksgiving by giving thanks...um...I guess that one kind of makes sense.
We spend Easter celebrating Jesus resurrection with chocolate eggs and pastel shirts...
We should really put together a holiday to irony. We'd spend each hour talking about the origins of each holiday and how we've slowly moved them towards excess and a celebration of ourselves...and then we'd give out presents and get drunk.
just a thought...
Ask a Jehovah's Witness what life is like without these contrived holidays. They seem pretty happy without them. They believe that you should celebrate everyday that God gives you. I believe they only celebrate weddings and The Last Supper as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be happy without the holidays. The silly traditions bind our family together. I know they're contrived and meaningless but these little celebrations make life fun.
Sean, which ones could you do without?
I'll be on the planning committee for Irony Day.
ReplyDelete...and put my vote in for Gene Chandler Day.
ReplyDeleteI want to hear more about this holiday where I can celebrate myself and get drunk. It sounds a lot like what I call "weekdays."
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