Our calendars are already scattered with silly holidays like Ground Hog Day and Arbor Day, but there are many “holidays” that go unrecognized—and perhaps, in some cases, with good reason. Bean Day just passed last month and Create a Vacuum Day is coming up, but does anyone celebrate or even know about these silly “holidays”? Has the importance and validity of February’s Black History Month or October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month been tarnished by titles like Canned Food Month and Sarcastic Month? The list of silly observances is so extensive; it’s a wonder if anyone has heard of half of them.

Not many people know that January is National Thank You Month, a seemingly important thing to celebrate, but did anyone bother celebrating? Sara Donovan, Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) ’14, said “No, I’ve never heard of it,” yet, to celebrate the month of gratefulness she decided she’d “verbally say [thank you] to people who do good by me…and try to earn my own ‘thank yous’!” While saying thanks is an important thing to celebrate, Elle Radan, FCLC ’13 said “We should always be thankful, it shouldn’t matter what month it is.”

Similarly, Diana Betancour, FCLC ’13, agreed that “it shouldn’t be about the month that teaches us” about things like black history. She added, “It is good to have a month to focus on a narrative,” as long as important observances aren’t obscured by silly ones like National Thank You Month.
Still, there are some silly holidays obscuring the importance of others. National Freedom Day, a little known holiday, falls every Feb. 1, however, most people only know about the next day’s holiday—Groundhog Day. James Bartholomew, FCLC ’15, said that most of these silly days are “tongue in cheek” and just for fun. In regards to these tongue in cheek celebrations, Katie Leva, FCLC ’14, said, “It’s good for holidays like Black History Month to be at the forefront, but I think it’s also fun to have another reason to celebrate during the month.” Although silly holidays are fun, Leva also said “If I hear about a random one, I’ll participate in it, but there’s not one I’ll set out to do.”

Most people agree that things like National Peanut Butter Lovers’ Day are irrelevant and justly overlooked, but let’s hope that they also agree on the important holidays. With February being Black History Month and Women’s History Month on the horizon, hopefully people will take time to observe and will be instilled with knowledge that will last year round. As long as the silly holidays do not tarnish the importance of these educational ones, they can stick around just for fun. And for all those peanut butter lovers now wondering when their national day is, it’s coming up on March 1.