Okay, so I’m a little slow to pick up on all the special days and themes of celebrations that exist in America. Forget Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, or the Fourth of July. Celebrations in this country expand way beyond the arrival of pumpkin-spice lattes and Halloween inspired Reese’s Peanut Butter cups tumbling into supermarket aisles in August.
I’m referring to all the other days that we recognize along with their respective hashtags. Apparently today -- October 2nd -- has four reasons to celebrate: National Produce Misting Day, National Name Your Car Day, National Fried Scallops Day, and National Custodial Workers’ Recognition Day.
Listen, I can barely keep track of it’s time to change the sheets day or put the paper bin on the curb recycling day.
Produce Misting Day? Really?
Turns out, October 2nd also happens to be the last day of banned books week this year. Which I missed, sadly. I’ll get to that shortly. But first, a few thoughts on the different days and kinds of celebrations.
Last week I lost out on #nationaldaughterday by two days and then was late to #nationalsonday by about 31 hours and 44 minutes to the best of my rudimentary calculations. I should have figured out something was going on when all the celebrities I follow on Instagram were plastering their feeds with a gazillion photos of their offspring from birth to now, accompanied by effervescent descriptions of how much they love them and accentuated with a cornucopia of emojis.
Thank goodness I have friends like Krista who, like me, was totally clueless about the two days of public kiddo celebration going on right under our social noses. Accompanying a recent photo of her son and daughter -- who are the same age as my two kids -- she fessed up on Facebook to having lost track of what day it was. I shamelessly copied her, posting a photo of my son and daughter with the caption: These two.
I might have included a purple emoji heart at the end of the sentence.
Here’s the thing. No one cares if you’re on time or not with respect to posting about national-whatever-the-hell-it-is-we-are-celebrating-today day. Most people are happy to read something you thought was important enough to share. Extra points if it includes a puppy.
That said, the nature of social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook make you feel like you need to be in on the celebrations as they're happening or else you’re a big loser. If you’re a mother, for example, what kind of a mother are you really if you don’t acknowledge how wonderful your offspring are right along with Reese Witherspoon, Barack Obama, and Michelle Pfeifer who all showed up on time?
FOMO at its finest.
But when I got to thinking about this, I realized it’s more than FOMO that gets to us. Something darker and more sinister is afoot when you miss social celebrations like #nationalhugyourmailcarrier day because you chose to pay attention to things that might matter just a tad more. Things like, say, oh I don’t know -- making homemade lasagna for a dinner party for family you haven't seen in almost two years because of something called Covid. Or helping your parents organize their house so your mom can successfully get to the bathroom using a wheelchair.
What bothers us in these situations has less to do with missing out and everything to do with remaining part of the tribe. Being in the know. The inside track. The cool kids club. Missing out on social celebrations doesn’t get to us — especially if it’s socially acceptable to be fashionably late — but finding ourselves beyond the horizon of Pride Rock after Scar had its way with the place does. Banished to wander forever in that horribly dreary wasteland because we didn’t pay attention, we're untethered. Unwanted. Lonely.
Which is how no one wants to feel and is pretty much exactly how I felt when I learned that I missed banned books week this year. Hyperbole aside, as a former English teacher and bonafide bibliophile, I like to keep up with the conversation about censorship and books. In fact, if I were still teaching in an English classroom, I would have created student projects about censorship, facilitated heated discussions about the books that perpetually land on the banned books list every year, and conversed with colleagues about the stupidity behind book banning in the first place.
But because I’m no longer part of the English teacher tribe, I missed the celebrations and subsequent conversations altogether. Hence the untethered loneliness that washed over me upon discovering I was too late to participate this year.
Next best thing is writing this essay, my way of soothing myself for not keeping track of the infinite celebrations happening every day of every week throughout the year the way I once did when I worked as an English teacher. When I was part of an organization bigger than myself, I was rarely not in the know. Although I still consider myself very much a part of the professional world, being a freelance writer who spends most of her time alone doesn’t carry the same cache as having a title with capital letters that signals to the general population: I fit neatly and safely in a box you recognize. As such, will stay on top of ALL the important celebrations.
The good news is, National Authors Day is coming up on November 1st, so there’s that. I suspect some people will acknowledge on social media those of us who choose to put our thoughts down on paper for a living. In the meantime, if you’re ever as confused as I am about what day it is, or what celebrations are coming up, rest assured. The National Day Calendar website's got you covered 24/7/365.
There’s even a day for celebrating social media. June 30th is National Social Media Day, giving you plenty of time to mark your calendars and think about what you’d like to celebrate. No need to feel lonely or untethered ever again. No need to worry about missing out on National Orange Wine Day or National LED Light Day.
Even if you miss one of the celebrations by a day or two, people are more forgiving of these things than we sometimes think. They will, in fact, still love you. Some of them will like what you post because you cared enough to show up and share, a celebration worth recognizing every day.
