365 days, thousands of national observances

This month is National Women’s History Month—and National Celery Month. Just today, we are supposedly celebrating National Medal of Honor Day, Tolkien Reading Day, and National Lobster Newburg Day. In today’s world, it seems as if just about every noun has an entire day dedicated to it. All these nonsensical national observances cheapen more meaningful national months and days that matter and are just another way for businesses to sell another product.

An excess of national observances degrades the prestige of having an entire day or month dedicated to a particular occasion. National Women’s History Month, for example, became a national celebration in the 1980s after passing multiple rounds in Congress. In this case, the dedication of an entire month is appropriate since the contributions of women to the world are oftentimes overlooked. Needless to say, celery is nowhere near significant enough to be celebrated over a month. Unnecessary national observances of such trivial things can be declared by anyone, which detracts from more important national celebrations.

Given that anyone can declare a national day for something, it is no surprise that companies have used it as a marketing tool. On days such as National Donut Day, many donut shops may offer special deals. Having a day dedicated to a product gives people a reason to go out and buy that product. Using national observances to sell products is an insult to the legitimate holidays. It makes it seem as if the same distinction that has been given to subjects as noteworthy as Black History Month is no better than another space to advertise.

Arguably, there is some fun in dedicating a day to something pointless. A sizable amount of these national observances are about food, most of which may be deemed unhealthy and would not be eaten if the day was not dedicated to it. For instance, meatballs and hot fudge sundaes have their own days. However, people do not necessarily need a calendar to tell them what they should treat themself with. If someone feels like biting into a meatball or cleaning out a bowl of hot fudge sundae, then they should just do it.

The criteria for something to be a national day or month must be stricter. The standard must be set higher than playing “Mad Libs” with the phrase “National ____ Day.” National observances should highlight some national achievement or struggle that has had a lasting impact on America. Only in this way can the importance of such a significant distinction be preserved, and maybe, we can save some space on the calendar along the way.