We are stressing ourselves over “Special Days.”
Recently The Wall Street Journal carried news about two restaurants in India getting into a fight over the claim of who created the Butter Chicken, and the fight has landed in court. First, you might question why did I even read this news? Easy answer: I am from India and the mention of India attracted my attention. Secondly, it was on the front page of a reputed newspaper. Moving on, my attention was caught by a single line that read, “There is a World Butter Chicken Day.” What? There is a day named for Butter Chicken? Seriously? What is it going to be next- World Okra Day, World Jambalaya Day, World text your Ex Day, World Break-up Day, World get back with your Ex Day- the possibilities are endless.
Growing up I knew only two types of days – my birthday and holidays and nothing else mattered. The scene has totally changed now. These “special” days are sprouting up like mushrooms after rain. Every day is some “Special day”: Taco Day, Secretary Day, Teacher’s Day, Friendship Day, Margarita Day, Slurpee Day-I can keep going on and on. Even schools have started the Spirit weekdays: Pajama Day, Stuffed animal Day, Flannel Day, Twin Day. Honestly, these days are becoming a source of stress for me. Each morning I must recall what the so called “special day” it is, so that I can wish the right people and wear the appropriate attire or risk being cancelled. It was hard enough to remember the birthdays of my family members, now I must memorize the so-called “special days” as well. This is an information overload for my already overworked, over facebooked, over instagramed and over tiktoked brain. I can understand the logic behind Mother’s Day and Father’s Day as your parents are the ones you owe your existence on this planet to. They also fed you and endured your stupidities and tantrums, raised you and made you capable enough so that you could talk back to them. We most definitely owe them at least a day each. But what about the rest? What do I owe to the taco, margarita, jambalaya or for that matter the butter chicken?
And then there is the whole commercial aspect of it. This is a godsend opportunity for businesses to steal money from our pockets. I had not even completed my Christmas decorations and digested the Christmas dinner, when Costco already had the Valentine items out. By the time you are thinking of opening the heart shaped chocolates, the Easter bunnies will be perched on the store shelves, and we will be scrambling to buy cheap plastic eggs. Please, I need a break. I am scared to turn on the idiot box for the fear of being bombarded with advertisements that work on my FOMO and guilt me to get a card, a gift, or an outfit or go out to eat– none of which my budget allows.
This does not stop here; there is a color rule too. One also cannot commit the blasphemy of wearing wrong colors: you cannot don spring colors in summer, the summer colors in fall, the fall colors in winter and obviously, the winter colors in Spring, and of course, you must wear the color associated with the “Special” day. Try not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day and every other person you meet will ask you, “Where is your Green”? This reminds me of the time when I had just moved to the US; I found an exceptionally good deal on a beautiful black sweater with a pumpkin on it that I wore on a dinner date. As I entered the restaurant, all heads turned and people smiled, and I attributed it to my fabulous attire and Salma Hayek looks. The realization hit years later that it was because I had committed the audacity of wearing a Halloween sweater during Christmas month.
The logical question that follows is: who comes up with these days and the colors? Is there a bill introduced, a vote cast or a ballot sent home? Or is this done arbitrarily by some random bored person who just floats the idea on the social media, and from there it goes viral like the “Bucket Challenge” when everyone jumped on the bandwagon and started drenching themselves with water. I think that the fault does not completely lie with the creator of these absurd yet ingenuous ideas, but with us who lap them up like hungry kittens. It is our human nature. We humans get bored easily and crave excitement - anything to look forward to. It is the same instinct that makes us wait for Friday every week so that we can get through the week. These “Special Days” get us through the year and makes us forget the mundaneness of our day-to-day existence.
So, as the frenzy of the approaching Valentine’s Day intensifies, let’s buy our overpriced roses and wear our pink outfits while the volcanoes erupt in Iceland, Palestinians die of hunger, Houthis fire their missiles at the ships, and let us sit back and sip our pink champagne and create a new day and call it “I Don’t give a Damn Day.”
Simrit Bhatti
Simrit Bhatti, Advisor/Editor
Mrs. Bhatti is a Language Arts teacher at Fontana High School and teaches AP Language and Composition and Junior CP. She is an avid reader and love gardening in her spare time.