| Too
much good stuff packed into October?
By Angeline Olschewski
October 26, 2007 | What sense does it make to pack
October, the month first known for Halloween, with seven
other themes? Seven and a half, if you count the 15
days of Hispanic Heritage Month, which begins on September
15. We disapprove of cramming so many worthy and worthless
(uh…less worthy, that is) causes into the month of October.
Here are October's themes in alphabetical order: Breast
Cancer Awareness Month, Disability Awareness Month,
Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Gay History Month,
National Cyber Security Awareness Month, National Dental
Hygiene Month, and finally National Dessert Month (which
let's agree that we would be crazy to eliminate any
reason to consume sugary goodness.)
There are 12 months, people! This begs the question
why breast cancer and dental hygiene must share. After
some extensive research, (OK, a couple of Google searches),
we discovered that each month suffers the same abuse.
Some of our favorites include:
April is the month of Alcohol Awareness, Mathematics
Awareness (though we think that one is definitely expendable),
National Poetry Month, and Panda Month. In honor of
April we bring you a poem we wrote ... just this second:
Roses are red / Violets are blue / Isn't alcohol
/ Enough for you?
February is Black History Month, National Parent Leadership
Month and American Heart Month. (What? No "Cry Yourself
to Sleep Because You're Single" Month?)
July is National Ice Cream Month (this is definitely
worthy), Parks and Recreation Month, and National Sight
Preservation Month. (In other words, don't stare directly
into a solar eclipse. Brilliant.)
August is Hair Loss Awareness Month (oh those lucky
Leos!), National Sandwich Month, National Immunization
Awareness Month and National Inventors Month (no doubt
honoring the same people who think up these themes).
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, National
Adoption Month and National Novel Writing Month. (So
that's the best month to crank out that best seller…
noted.)
This madness has to stop! The mere fact that so few
of these themes were known prior to an Internet search
suggests that most are expendable.
This brings us back to our original point that October
is unduly burdened with too many important themes. We
cannot suggest that breast cancer is more worthy than
gay history, but both are certainly more worthy than
hair loss awareness. So let's "share the wealth," as
they say. Which brings us to another point. Who the
heck are "They?"
NW
RB |
