[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation @lemmy.world Call me Lenny/Leni @lemm.ee 12 mo. ago

Undercelebrated holidays/celebrations

In my setting, I'm exposed to a lot of people day by day, and sometimes I meet people who are celebrating things I've never heard of before. It sometimes feels like a Spongebob episode, I'm talking to them and they might say something like "we're observing national hat day today" or "we're celebrating Hiawatha Day" (apparently that's August 22nd). How many of you can relate? Have any non-conventional observances (for a lack of a better way to ask)?

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Not holidays, but i had a new kid who wore a cultural head covering and the other little kids voted for him for crazy hat day and he won an ice cream sandwich. They were 6 year olds who didn't understand and we didn't know what to do, so we gave him the ice cream.
- What did the kid with the headcovering think of it?
  
  He was happy because he got ice cream and kids told him, "I like your hat." This was the second day of summer school and his first day so they'd never seen it before. Luckily it turned out ok.
When I was in college we once threw a Martin Luther King Jr. Day Eve party. Formal attire, sparkling wine, and we had a countdown to midnight when everyone shouted, "Happy Martin Luther King Jr Day!"

Now my family sometimes celebrates half birthdays, or quarter-birthdays. We also make up birthdays for stuffed animals. Any excuse for a party.
- We used to do (actually still do) something similar to the birthday thing where I am. We'd give the founding day of our city the full National Independence Day treatment. Or rather we did that because we thought it was normal, but then everyone where we live would say they didn't know that was that day. Which makes me a little sad.
  
  That's a great idea! I should start celebrating my town's founding day. Looks like April 28 is going to be a party next year!
https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/

When you need an excuse there's always a holiday
- Genghis Khan day does sound kind of awesome
Festivus
- Just looked that up. I hope nobody capitalizes on it, it would ruin its one job.
- I just hope nobody capitalizes on it, it would ruin its one job.
Back when I was a kid one of my neighbor buddies told me about a strange toothfairy-like being (that I'd never heard of) associated with Halloween in his house. Unfortunately, I've forgotten whatever the hell he called it, but "Candyfairy" gets the idea across, I think. Basically, if he left a bowl of candy out after trick-or-treating, the "Candyfairy" (or whatever) would come and trade it for presents in the night. He came over the next day and showed me a game he'd gotten; I tested this myself too that same night after he'd told me about it -- my parents, of course, had never heard of this being either though so all my candy was still where I left it the next morning...
- Sounds like a classic bamboozle.
Argentina has a Friend's Day (July 20th). You are supposed to gather with friends and celebrate, and send messages to those who are too far away etc.
- Is the day a useful day for making friends or just celebrating the friends you have?
  
  Celebrating those you have usually. But nothing stops you from making new ones
Holidays and Observances Around the World
- Shoot, just realized looking at this that today is election day.
Mardi Gras does not get the love it deserves. It is a holiday explicitly dedicated to sin an excess. It's a day to spit in god's eye. It's a day to break rules and violate taboos. Mardi Gras without Lent is a top tier holiday. As long as you're careful not to observe Lent afterwards, you're free to call Mardi Gras a Discordian holiday. Valentine's Day is not the February holiday you can get me. It's Mardi Gras. Forget flowers. Find me a professional bakery king cake, preferably with a little baby Jesus in it to eat, and I'll love you for at least a while!
- I always thought Mardi Gras was Comic Con for jocks. I didn't know it was God's annual purge.
  
  Wat. That's so weird to hear when you grew up in a Mardi Gras area. It's originally a catholic holiday where you get all your sins and urges out before you start your 40 days of pious Lent. In practice it's a massive racous party. In my life, we take the sin part very seriously.
I have an opposite story. One of my kids went to a school that had a large and diverse immigrant population. There were something like 40 different languages spoken by the various families. The trouble was, every week somebody had a holiday from their home country that they wanted to share and celebrate. Students were constantly bringing in sweet treats and gifts and other things for their classmates. It became a huge distraction for everyone, and the school actually had to ask parents to stop celebrating so many holidays.
- That sounds sweet the kids were that open to the existence of so many holidays. In all the places I've been, even the smallest calendar addition would be overwhelming to everyone.
I'll do a slightly different take. I grew up in a part of the US with a very high Jewish population, so the public schools got the Jewish high holidays off. I didn't realize the schools being closed for those days was unusual until I moved away.
- I myself actually didn't know public places could "choose" their days off until later on, I always thought the days off were whatever the higher-ups said were the days off. Then I went somewhere where I'd be called in on holidays like Columbus Day and Labor Day while also sometimes people treated Leap Day like an event. And I was like "wait you can do that?"
  
  I believe it was off by necessity. So many teachers would be taking the day off anyway, there just wouldn't be enough staff. A large amount of student would be taking the day off too.
  Edit: My previous job and current both get the same federal holidays off per year. My previous job grouped them together. This created blocks like the Friday after thanksgiving and a week around Christmas. My current just takes them on the actual day.
How many of you can relate

None. I mean, it's nice if we have 'National literature day' and 'National Earth's day' and such, but more minor holidays I just can't care less.

Where I live people have a "name day", accordingly to their ~~last name~~ first name. (each day has one or few names associated to them; sometimes one name has multiple days for god know why...).

Now, the existence of this is purely to have a reason for people to get drunk (and mad if you forget it), which isn't my piece of cake anyways and because of this, I really don't care about name days in general.

And also, my birthday and name day are next to each other so I never really had either a pure birthday or pure name day, usually they got combined. Even with christmas as well... (there's a few weeks between them).

edit: first name, not last. (it's also called difderently here)
- How would one find out their name day?
  
  The calendar contains them. Each day has some names written inside them.
  
  (also, I edited my post, it's by our first name, not last 😅)

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