By Megan Lambert (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: July 1, 2015
One Christmas at my house, there were so many presents littering the floor that we had to tiptoe to get to a chair. After the third gift, we were merely unwrapping for the sake of getting through the massive sea of gifts.
Celebrations have been a part of every human society in history for good reason: they bring us together. However, some holidays are celebrated for no real reason other than tradition and a reason to give and receive gifts.
I have a few friends who are so reluctant to celebrate holidays that they’ll give Christmas gifts two weeks early or after December 25. They insist holidays shouldn’t exist anyway, because every day should be special.
But to a certain extent, I disagree. Religious, statutory, and personal holidays like birthdays and anniversaries all have different meanings and levels of importance.
Religious holidays
Religious holidays are sweet — if you belong to that religion. As an agnostic with a mostly agnostic family, it makes little to no sense for us to buy each other a bunch of crap for the sake of celebrating someone we don’t believe was the son of God. The only reason we go out shopping, host massive dinners, and make awkward small talk with relatives we never normally hang out with is that it’s cultural.
Coming from an Anglo-Saxon Protestant background, my family is simply used to putting in the effort on December 25 because our ancestors did it. Because it’s so ingrained in our culture, we don’t think too deeply about the meaning of Christmas and how we’re possibly perverting it with our gluttonous gift-gobbling. We just do it for the family we don’t usually make time for, the gifts we wouldn’t buy ourselves, and the leftover turkey sandwiches.
Statutory holidays
Getting the day off to do whatever you want because it’s mandated by the government is great. Getting paid more to work that day because it’s mandated by the government is even better. Stat holidays allow us to take a holiday for ourselves, which means that we don’t have the burden of buying gifts or attending parties we would rather not go to. We choose how we celebrate. This makes the day more special, because it could make you the happiest.
Even if you work on a stat, at least you get a little bit of extra money to toss into your piggy bank. Either way, stats are a great way to celebrate your tolerance of remedial duties and rude customers.
Personal holidays
When it comes down to it, these are the holidays we should celebrate the most.
It’s great to get gifts on your birthday, because those gifts say, “Hey, I’m glad you were born.” Anniversaries are just as special; an anniversary lets a special person know that you’re thankful you met them, even if they leave dirty dishes in the sink sometimes.
Unlike holidays such as Christmas or Halloween, where big box stores bombard you with cheap merchandise and advertisements leave you with sky-high expectations, a birthday or anniversary is unique to you and your family. Birthday and anniversary gifts aren’t just generic gadgets coming from the clearance section of a department store, but most of the time are purchased with consideration for the person’s needs or interests. These are days that can’t exactly be taken over by corporations, but ones we actually have to put time and effort into celebrating.
We also have special days like Earth Day, where we’re encouraged to power off after 8 p.m., National Best Friend Day, where we post pictures of ourselves being goofy with our BFFs, and the list goes on. The answer to whether or not we should celebrate special days like Cat Day is simple: if you want to celebrate something, do so.
