What are you planning for Sweetest Day this Saturday?
OhioGuy
favorite - and writing a poem for her. The day is about showing you
remembered and that you appreciate the person with a small gift (usually
edible), not about trying to get huge or expensive gifts.
Just wondering what everyone else is planning on doing to show their
appreciation for their significant other on Sweetest Day this year?
Something sweet, I hope!
http://www.theromantic.com/sweetestday.htm
http://www.theholidayspot.com/sweetest_day/
Sweetest Day is Saturday, October 20 this year
OhioGuy
Rod Speed
OhioGuy
How so? I spoke to my Grandfather, and he says most folks around here
have celebrated it since he was a kid. (and he's 84)
It is also on our wall calendar.
Why would you consider an opportunity to show your appreciation to someone
you love (at little cost, I might add) to be a con job?
50 years ago, Sweetest Day was mostly celebrated in the Midwest. However,
as jobs moved, the Interstates were built, and people started becoming more
mobile, they took their local holidays with them, including Sweetest Day.
That is why Texas, California and Florida are now up in the top 10 as far
as # of people celebrating Sweetest Day. Just 10 years ago, it was still
all Midwest states.
Anthony Matonak
>> To ignore what is just another stupid con job.
>
> How so? I spoke to my Grandfather, and he says most folks around here
> have celebrated it since he was a kid. (and he's 84)
I didn't grow up in the Midwest and neither did my father or his father.
This is entirely new to me and generations before me. I guess I'll have
to just do the same thing I do with all the other special days that have
absolutely no meaning to me, my family or anyone I know.
Anthony
Peter Bruells
Yeah... but it sounds as if its a "holiday" one can easily ignore,
unless the pest of Halloween which has crept over the Atlantic.
Rod Speed
>> To ignore what is just another stupid con job.
> How so?
Its just another con job designed to get people to spend more on confectionary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweetest_Day
> I spoke to my Grandfather, and he says most folks around
> here have celebrated it since he was a kid. (and he's 84)
All that means is that its a con job thats been around for quite a while.
> It is also on our wall calendar.
Any effective con job gets onto the calendars.
> Why would you consider an opportunity to show your appreciation to someone you love (at little cost, I might add) to
> be a con job?
Because its obviously designed to increase the sales of that sort of thing.
> 50 years ago, Sweetest Day was mostly celebrated in the Midwest. However, as jobs moved, the Interstates were built,
> and people
> started becoming more mobile, they took their local holidays with
> them, including Sweetest Day.
> That is why Texas, California and Florida are now up in the top 10
> as far as # of people celebrating Sweetest Day. Just 10 years ago,
> it was still all Midwest states.
Irrevant to whether its just another con job designed to get people to spend more on confectionary.
Cindy Hamilton
> I'm planning on getting my wife a box of malted milk balls - her
> favorite - and writing a poem for her. The day is about showing you
> remembered and that you appreciate the person with a small gift (usually
> edible), not about trying to get huge or expensive gifts.
>
> Just wondering what everyone else is planning on doing to show their
> appreciation for their significant other on Sweetest Day this year?
> Something sweet, I hope!
Nothing for Sweetest Day. We don't do Hallmark holidays.
I show my appreciation for my husband every single day,
as he shows his for me.
Cindy Hamilton
Ben Jackson
> Just wondering what everyone else is planning on doing to show their
> appreciation for their significant other on Sweetest Day this year?
I'd never heard of it before this. In fact, until I saw the Wikipedia entry,
I thought maybe you were making it up.
> >To ignore what is just another stupid con job.
>
> How so? I spoke to my Grandfather, and he says most folks around here
> have celebrated it since he was a kid. (and he's 84)
>
> It is also on our wall calendar.
My calendar also lists Canadian Thanksgiving and United Nations Day among
this month's "holidays"; I won't be celebrating those either.
>
> Why would you consider an opportunity to show your appreciation to
> someone you love (at little cost, I might add) to be a con job?
Why would you need an obscure, predominantly midwestern to show your
appreciation to someone you love?
>
> 50 years ago, Sweetest Day was mostly celebrated in the Midwest.
> However, as jobs moved, the Interstates were built, and people started
> becoming more mobile, they took their local holidays with them, including
> Sweetest Day.
>
> That is why Texas, California and Florida are now up in the top 10 as far
> as # of people celebrating Sweetest Day. Just 10 years ago, it was still
> all Midwest states.
Well, I hate to burst your bubble but I've lived in Texas for more than ten
years and had never heard of
"Sweetest Day" before stumbling across this thread. You may very well be
right about Texas being in the top 10, but I suspect that that's like saying
that Louisiana is one of the top five states in the country for "Talk Like A
Pirate Day" -- it just doesn't mean very much.
The interesting thing about all this is that, assuming with Wikipedia entry
is accurate (always a risky assumption, I admit), the original Sweetest Day
involved giving free boxes of candy to "newsboys, orphans, old folks, and
the poor", which seems like a very kind thing to do. It's really a shame
that what may have started out as a day for doing something nice for the
less fortunate has been turned into another excuse for crass commercialism.
OhioGuy
>that that's like saying that >Louisiana is one of the top five states in
>the country for >"Talk Like A Pirate Day" -- it just doesn't mean very
> >much.
Well, it means that the holiday is spreading, and that's good enough for
me. I'm glad to know that something I'm used to here in Ohio will be quite
common across the entire country by the time my kids are adults. I really
don't think that many people take holidays like "talk like a pirate day"
very seriously, nor do they celebrate it. However, people DO celebrate
Sweetest Day. Millions of them do, including me.
>It's really a shame that what may have started out as a >day for doing
>something nice for the less fortunate has >been turned into another excuse
>for crass >commercialism.
It's only "crass commercialism" if you're the head of a company selling
candy, or if you're a cynic. If you're a romantic, you like buying your
wife's favorite candy for her, and you like writing poems for her, then it's
another great excuse to do a little something to make her happy.
Why try to take the fun out of it for those of us who enjoy it? That's
like going around putting down Thanksgiving just because some folks gorge
themselves, and don't really get much of the original meaning from it.
Besides, if you want to, you can always go buy some candy and hand it out
to homeless folks Saturday. That would celebrate the original meaning
better.
Rod Speed
>> You may very well be right about Texas being in the top 10, but I
>> suspect that that's like saying that >Louisiana is one of the top
>> five states in the country for >"Talk Like A Pirate Day" -- it just
>> doesn't mean very
>>> much.
> Well, it means that the holiday is spreading, and that's good enough for me. I'm glad to know that something I'm
> used to here in Ohio will be quite common across the entire country by the time my kids are adults.
Fantasy, that con job never did fly.
> I really don't think that many people take holidays like
> "talk like a pirate day" very seriously, nor do they celebrate it.
True in spades of that con job too.
> However, people DO celebrate Sweetest Day.
Fuck all do.
> Millions of them do, including me.
Yep, there are actually that many that stupid.
>> It's really a shame that what may have started out as a >day for
>> doing something nice for the less fortunate has >been turned into
>> another excuse for crass >commercialism.
> It's only "crass commercialism" if you're the head of a company selling candy, or if you're a cynic.
Or if you actually have enough of a clue to have noticed who started that con job.
> If you're a romantic, you like buying your wife's favorite candy for her, and you like writing poems for her, then
> it's another great excuse to do a little something to make her happy.
Anyone with a clue doesnt need that con job to do that.
> Why try to take the fun out of it for those of us who enjoy it?
Because its just another con job.
> That's like going around putting down Thanksgiving just because some folks gorge themselves, and don't really get much
> of the original meaning from it.
Nope, nothing like. That wasnt a con job organised by some spivs and con men.
> Besides, if you want to, you can always go buy some candy and hand it out to homeless folks Saturday. That would
> celebrate the original meaning better.
Fuck them, the only 'homeless' in the US are druggys and lunatics.
Anthony Matonak
>> You may very well be right about Texas being in the top 10, but I suspect
>> that that's like saying that >Louisiana is one of the top five states in
>> the country for >"Talk Like A Pirate Day" -- it just doesn't mean very
>>> much.
>
> Well, it means that the holiday is spreading, and that's good enough for
> me. I'm glad to know that something I'm used to here in Ohio will be quite
> common across the entire country by the time my kids are adults. I really
> don't think that many people take holidays like "talk like a pirate day"
> very seriously, nor do they celebrate it. However, people DO celebrate
> Sweetest Day. Millions of them do, including me.
I don't know about the midwest but "Talk Like a Pirate Day" is very
popular in Los Angeles. However, when it comes to celebrations there
is nothing to compare to Burning Man. I'm not sure if it's on many
calendars though.
>> It's really a shame that what may have started out as a >day for doing
>> something nice for the less fortunate has >been turned into another excuse
>> for crass >commercialism.
>
> It's only "crass commercialism" if you're the head of a company selling
> candy, or if you're a cynic.
It was started by the heads of companies selling candy so it's always
been about crass commercialism. You can't get around that.
> Why try to take the fun out of it for those of us who enjoy it? That's
> like going around putting down Thanksgiving just because some folks gorge
> themselves, and don't really get much of the original meaning from it.
Why try to force the spreading of such a silly, commercial, made up
holiday? That you enjoy it doesn't matter very much. There are people
that enjoy bondage and S&M but you don't see them promoting 'Tie your
partner down day' on a frugal living newsgroup.
You should be aware that there are a lot of people, especially native
americans, that do not enjoy Thanksgiving and see the entire holiday
as a celebration of some very evil events. This is similar to how the
English hardly ever celibate the 4th of July.
> Besides, if you want to, you can always go buy some candy and hand it out
> to homeless folks Saturday. That would celebrate the original meaning
> better.
If we want to, we can completely ignore it like we have all our lives
and just like we ignore a seemingly endless list of other holidays that
have no meaning to us.
Myself, I would be more likely to celebrate any of the following before
'sweetest day' and this is just a partial list for this month.
Vegetarian Day
Balloons Around The World
Child Health Day
Fire Pup Day
Older Persons Day
Guardian Angels Day
Phileas Fogg's Wager Day
Custodial Worker Day
Farm Animals Day
Diversity Day
World Smile Day
Ten-Four Day
Card Making Day
Country Inn & Bed and Breakfast Day
Intergeneration Day
World Communion Day
Teachers Day
Mad Hatter Day
Physician Assistant Day
World Habitat Day
Cosmopolite's Day
Natural Disaster Reduction Day
Top Spinning Day
Bring Your Teddy Bear To Work & School Day
Native Americans' Day
Leif Erickson Day
Depression Screening Day
World Post Day
Emergency Nurses Day
Cake Decorating Day
Naval Academy Day
Mental Health Day
General Pulaski Memorial Day
Newspaper Carrier Day
Coming Out Day
Reptile Awareness Day
Universal Music Day
Clergy Appreciation Day
Moment of Frustration Scream Day
Be Bald and Be Free Day
Grouch Day
White Cane Safety Day
Boss's Day
Department Store Day
Dictionary Day
Credit Union Day
World Food Day
Eradication of Poverty Day
Mammography Day
Mulligan Day
World Menopause Day
Toy Camera Day
Evaluate your Life Day
Day of Radiant Peace
Mole Day
Lung Health Day
United Nations Day
Make A Difference Day
World Priest Day
Cranky Co-workers Day
Mother-in-Law Day
Diwali
National Chocolates Day
Internet Day
Create A Great Funeral Day
Haunted Refrigerator Night
Knock-Knock Jokes Day
Samhain
You want to be sweet to someone? Why wait for a holiday? Why use candy?
Why not go out of your way to do something nice for them that doesn't
involve buying something?
Anthony
Ben Jackson
> >You may very well be right about Texas being in the top 10, but I
> >suspect that that's like saying that >Louisiana is one of the top five
> >states in the country for >"Talk Like A Pirate Day" -- it just doesn't
> >mean very
>> >much.
>
> Well, it means that the holiday is spreading, and that's good enough for
> me.
Since you snipped that part of my post, let me repeat again: I've lived in
Texas for a number of years and never heard of it before this. In addition,
I have more contact than most (both in the neighborhood where I live and
where I work) with people from out-of-state and I'm pretty well-read, but
I've never heard of "Sweetest Day" before. If it's spreading at all, it must
be doing so at roughly the speed of molasses in winter.
> I'm glad to know that something I'm used to here in Ohio will be quite
> common across the entire country by the time my kids are adults.
Ok, up to this point I've been trying to disagree with you respectfully, but
after reading the above I'm laughing at you. Not with you -- at you.
>>It's really a shame that what may have started out as a >day for doing
>>something nice for the less fortunate has >been turned into another
>>excuse for crass >commercialism.
>
> It's only "crass commercialism" if you're the head of a company selling
> candy, or if you're a cynic. If you're a romantic, you like buying your
> wife's favorite candy for her, and you like writing poems for her, then
> it's another great excuse to do a little something to make her happy.
You also conveniently snipped the part where I asked why you need a
"holiday" to show your appreciation to someone you care about. If your
calendar said that tomorrow were "Send Everything To Ben Jackson Day" then
would you? If not, why do you change your behavior for what is apparently no
more than a pathetic, region-specific ripoff of Valentine's Day, which is
itself a second-tier holiday?
> Why try to take the fun out of it for those of us who enjoy it?
> That's like going around putting down Thanksgiving just because some folks
> gorge themselves, and don't really get much of the original meaning from
> it.
If anything I wrote in that post takes the fun out of it for you then I'd
say that your enjoyment of that dubious holiday was already hanging by a
thread.
> Besides, if you want to, you can always go buy some candy and hand it out
> to homeless folks Saturday. That would celebrate the original meaning
> better.
That might have been the right way to celebrate it back in 1921, but given
the commercial nature of your "holiday" it appears that if I really want to
get into the spirit of things it would be more appropriate to buy some candy
and eat it myself.