If the UN doesn’t recognize your symbolic occasion, we can probably just scrap it altogether.
December’s here, 2013 is around the corner, and the most special and important day of the year is upon us. No, I don’t mean Christmas. December 13 is International Day Day, a holiday celebrated by Redditors that commemorates…well, nothing. But is that really any different from the countless other days (or even months) of awareness we ostensibly—but don’t actually—observe every year?
Look, apart from Earth Day and Black History Month, I couldn’t tell you the name or date of a single secular observance, and I doubt the average person could do any better. Can you blame us? With nearly every single day of the year dedicated to one cause or another (and sometimes several at once), it’s next to impossible to care about them all, let alone mark the occasion with real, tangible action. (Bake sale, anyone?)
That kind of indifference is a shame when it comes to something like Human Rights Day (Dec. 10, which you totally knew, right?). But you start to wonder when your tally of observances starts to sound more like a to-do list (Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month, Library Card Sign-Up Month, Update Your Resume Month) or a Tex-Mex dinner menu—May is Hamburger, Salad, and Salsa Month. I love peanut butter as much as the next guy, but do we really need a Peanut Butter Lovers’ Month? (Not to be confused with Peanut Month.)
So, in the interest of saving our support for causes that actually deserve the attention, let’s stop declaring days for turtles, ballpoint pens, and talking like pirates. If the UN doesn’t recognize your symbolic occasion, we can probably just scrap it altogether. With one exception, of course: Shark Week stays.
