There are many holidays throughout the year that myself and many others celebrate. The number of holidays per year are almost overwhelming and oftentimes begin to get hard to keep up with. There are, of course, the main holidays that everyone celebrates, but there are many others that are considered, "Hallmark Holidays." This essentially means they are holidays that serve no historical significance and are for commercial purposes only. With the holiday season rapidly approaching, I find it almost festive to share with you which holidays I hate and why.
1. Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is one of the holidays that does actually have historical value, but if we're looking at it for that reason, it seems almost wrong to celebrate.The Thanksgiving story that is always told to us as children is that the pilgrims came over and made peace with the indigenous people and they shared the land and had a feast together. The real story is that we stole the land and slaughtered the Native Americans.
If we choose to ignore that part of history and say we are celebrating the holiday because we want to give thanks and use it as a day to be thankful for the good things we have, I also find that irrational. I am in no way saying that it is bad to be thankful for the people and things we have, but we do not need a holiday to acknowledge this. If you are thankful for someone or something, you should tell them every day and not only tell them because a holiday is saying you have too.
2. Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day, or as I like to call it, "discounted chocolate day." This entire holiday was created for greeting card companies to make money off sappy hopeless romantics such as myself. To those who do not have significant others, it can be a very sad day and they hate the holiday. Coming from someone who has spent quite a bit of time not in a relationship during the holiday, I can relate. It is sometimes sad to see all these cute couples posting pictures together.
As someone who is currently in a relationship and also happens to be a sappy hopeless romantic, I can honestly say I still do not like Valentine's Day. I don't need a specific day to tell my significant other they're special and that I love them. I want them to feel special and loved every day, not just on this holiday because we're forced to believe you have to celebrate it. That does not make me a Valentine's Day Grinch, though. If my significant other were to love Valentine's Day and wanted a special evening, I would obviously make sure it was the perfect day for them. I just feel it is an unnecessary holiday to celebrate and ultimately serves not purpose, but hey, I'll still enjoy the cheap chocolate.
3. St. Patrick's Day
Saint Patrick's Day is a holiday I don't feel I need to explain too much why it is silly to celebrate. If you are Irish, then I have no argument and you should celebrate as much and however you want. For someone who is not Irish, I find it kind of stupid. This is just another holiday that has nothing to do with us so why should we steal it. It is about Irish heritage, not American.
Being a college student, I am not blind to the fact that this holiday is celebrated by Americans as an excuse to drink and excessive amount of alcohol and not feel guilty about doing it. In grade school, it was meant to just wear green for extra credit. Never once did we learn anything about the holiday itself besides talking about leprechauns and four leaf clovers. If you are not going to properly educate children on holiday, than I am sorry, I find it pointless to blindly celebrate.
4. Easter
My feelings toward Easter are different than the other holidays on this list. I am not saying not to celebrate this one and that I do not myself. If it is celebrated for the actual religious purpose it has, I think that is great, but if not, it is pointless. Sadly, most people do not pay attention to what Easter is actually about and all they know is the Easter Bunny will bring them a basket full of candy and gifts.
I celebrated Easter as a kid so I am not trying to get on my high horse here, but I do think it is somewhat pointless. I have had many friends complain about the "gifts" they have gotten for Easter and compare it to what others have gotten. You shouldn't be complaining about not getting what you want because it is not something that should even matter. If you are not religious, don't celebrate it, simple as that.
5. Cinco De Mayo
Are you Mexican? Are you of Hispanic descent? If you answered no to the above questions then you should probably not celebrate it. We should be celebrating American holidays and not ones that have absolutely nothing to do with our culture.
WARNING LIBERAL AGENDA: If we're going to be quite honest, another reason Americans should not celebrate the holiday is because a vast majority of the ones that do are racist against Mexicans. So many Americans celebrate the holiday, but yet they are all for Trump building a wall to keep them out of our country. If you don't want them in our country, then you have no right to steal their culture and celebrate their holiday.
6. Mother's & Father's Day
These holidays are lumped together because they are essentially the same thing. I love and appreciate both my mother and father very much, but I do not think there needs to be a holiday for them to know that. It's something I should be able to tell them every day and at least very often. They shouldn't need a holiday specified for them in order to feel special.
7. Groundhog Day
Honestly, I don't even know what to say about this one. It literally has no significance whatsoever. It means absolutely nothing, and doesn't even celebrate one. I am honestly wracking my brain trying to think of how this holiday even came to be. Since I do not know, I'm going to come up with a scenario and tell you how I think it happened.
Here's the scene: Two middle-aged white guys are sitting at a bar making crude jokes and trying to come up with a genius, million dollar idea. Suddenly one of them has an idea.
Guy #1: I've got it!
Guy #2: What is it?
Guy #1: What if we have a groundhog come out of a hole and if he sees his shadow, we have six more weeks of winter.
Guy #2: So a groundhog is going to tell us whether or not spring is coming?
Guy #1: Yup!
Guy #2: That's awesome dude!
I assume they both immediately high-fived after this.
Once again, all of this is just my opinion. I am not shaming anyone for celebrating these holidays or think that you are stupid for doing so. It is just my own personal opinion that these do not serve much of a purpose and don't really need to be celebrated. If you do so, then I hope you have a good time celebrating them. Happy Holidays!
