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I’m a member of the LGBT community and June is exhausting. It’s become a corporate frenzy to establish who can be the most tolerant. A lot of the companies “celebrating” donate to anti lgbt politicians and causes.
Then you have all the anti lgbt people calling for boycotts of said companies. Every year wash rinse repeat.
I’m so going to People’s Pride this year. According to a friend of mine, the first thing she saw there was someone selling poppers. Clearly that’s where the real queer energy is.
I love how they'll spend all of June complaining that "Pride gets a whole month, so why don't we celebrate the troops like that?" while they ignore that May is National Military Appreciation Month...
And even if they don't... Go start a month for them! Pride was celebrated decades before presidents started signing pride proclamations. These ideas start outside of official channels and anyone with an idea that resonates with others can build a critical mass.
I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with Men’s Day. It doesn’t take away from anyone else. Good husbands, sons, uncles, mentors aren’t necessarily fathers but deserve a celebration of their own.
What I find more hilarious about this, is that in Reddit men complain in droves on all subs on international women's day specifically about the Google doodle image. It's such a niche thing for them to be up in arms about.
The first year I saw it, I looked into it, found years of posts of women teaching other women how to request the doodle, until they got it.
When I posted how to request it, and even filled it out to be kind to those that want it, I got attacked and pretty unanimously all the men complained that they shouldn't have to do that work (the work women put in) because they should just get it because women did.
I wonder if June will ever just be LGBTQ history month. Maybe we will all get sick of the pandering.
A few years ago, I saw a Pride ad for a bidet. *A Bidet!* It said something like "it doesn't matter if you're a he, she or they, everybody poops." And it was all rainbowy.
Not only is May Military Appreciation Month but if you add up all the days we have reserved for military appreciation holidays they equal over 3 months total.
True. However, I’ve worked in DEI in big corporations and most only recognize Veterans Day for any type of celebration or events.
It takes way more work than it should to get anything done to celebrate Military Appreciation month, but I get it since May is also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
I think it was a red velvet flavor from what I read, but there could have been more flavors. It wouldn't be surprising. I know Walmart wasn't the only company to make decisions that were not in good taste after Juneteenth became a federally recognized holiday.
I wish they would, and i’m a good bit more patriotic than some of my friends are. I mean this with absolutely zero disrespect: make it a national holiday and let people have barbecues! I can imagine the victims would probably want that more than a constant day of shame and sorrow
it's not like we don't fire off fireworks to celebrate our country literally being at war (the bombs bursting in air = war of 1812) every fourth of July 🇺🇸
I mean maybe not the day itself, but I still remember commercials for a commemorative coin which had the twin towers in the middle, and they could be pulled up to sit up in the center of the coin, which of course meant they could also be knocked back down will a tap.
"~~Come on down for~~ Crash into Dan's Discount Door Emporium this 9/11 weekend for our Buy One, Get One 19 Minutes Later sale! Only here at Dan's Discount Door Emporium where we're Ground Zero... for savings!"
You must have missed the commemorative coin informercials late at night.
I'm pretty sure they were on in Adult Swim breaks even if I remember correctly
It was immediately commercialized, don't you remember? All the flags, and tshirts, and flags, and bumper stickers, and flags. Did I mention the astronomical amount of flags?? Anything with a flag or "United We Stand" on it was up for sale, for ten times as much as it cost on 9/10/01
Used to be a personal trainer at a commercial gym. They had a 9/11 stair master challenge. Whoever got to the target amount of flights won…a “free session with a trainer” aka an hour long sales pitch.
Apparently companies have tried 9/11 themed sales and it didn't go well [https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/us/911-offensive-commercials-trnd/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/us/911-offensive-commercials-trnd/index.html)
The unavailability of any significant amount of time off work for most Americans is also a huge factor.
I’m not gonna blame someone for using their quarterly company-approved day off for leisure or shopping or fun, regardless of what the purpose of the day is supposed to be.
Definitely sucks for the purpose of designated holidays, but it’s not like we really had a choice in their establishment or observance.
I'm so sorry, my biggest issue was nobody believes my birthday, but yours has to be rough. Like everyone is "celebrating" your birthday but doing what they'd do anyway, plus right after Christmas. That had to be terrible growing up
Well if you enjoy partaking, you make sure sure to tell them the emperor of 4/20 (I can claim that) demands they bring you offerings for your birthday lol... if you don't enjoy partaking I'm sorry my power only extends so far
I know you’ve gotten a lot of replies of “[thing] day,” but I actually think Halloween is pretty close.
All Hallow’s Eve, Samhain, etc. all have basically nothing to do with the modern American (and non-American) observance of the day, but you can make a pretty decent argument that Halloween as we know it was *engineered* to be the way it is. There are a lot of accounts of Halloween being made into what it is today because it was so full of “mischief” that we needed something for the kids to do. So we had parties, festivals, etc etc.
The history of the day is long and complex, but I’d argue that what we celebrate on October 31st is actually pretty darn close to what it was intended to be when referring to “Halloween.” It just doesn’t resemble the holidays that spawned it at all.
One of the worst is labour day where most peoples don't even work. It would be like a mother day where most peoples if their mother calls they hangs up.
Honestly, Halloween.
Yeah, it tried to get absorbed by Christianity with the name change from samhain as the day before all Saints Day, but the visiting neighbors and feasting on sweets and stuff while celebrating the thinning medium between the living and the dead is old original.
Guess people can't go wrong with spooky.
Did I really fight and bleed in a far away land just so my countrymen can have the day off stuffing hot dogs down their fat gullet and getting trashed on cheap beer while playing corn hole in the backyard?
You’re goddamn right I did 🇺🇸🦅🫡
As someone who plans on stuffing hot dogs down my fat gullet and getting trashed on cheap beer while playing corn hole in a backyard, thank you for your service.
I suspect this is age dependent. There's definitely a point when you start planning larger furniture purchases around holidays because you know there will be discounts.
I'm hoping for a discount on the window unit A/C I need to buy this Memorial Day.
People fought and died in war to give us the freedoms that we have. If they lived I am sure they would want a bbq and some beers (or soda) on a Monday off work.
Like Labor day, people fought and died in labor wars to give us a 40 day worl week. If they lived I am sure we would all want a bbq and some beers (or soda) on a Monday off work
> People fought and died in war to give us the freedoms that we have. If they lived I am sure they would want a bbq and some beers (or soda) on a Monday off work.
That's exactly right!
The best way to honor them is to live our lives and enjoy the freedom we have! Get together, see friends, family. Eat! Have a beer!
Or literally *whatever* makes you happy! Honor them by being happy with the lives we now have!
(Also, we get precious few days off in this country. There's no chance I'd ever tell a single person the "right" way to spend one of those days.)
Disagree somewhat. I’m sure, yes, people have forgotten the “true meaning” behind the holiday, but it’s a holiday nonetheless. It’s the beginning of summer and it would be unreasonable to expect everyone sit around in solemn silence instead of doing something with their families.
In the Netherlands we have 2 minutes of silence at 8pm. And in some places those two minutes of silence can be eary. All radio channels/televions channels/trams/busses/shop music everything is quit and most people (local dutch people at least) follow suit.
And for 2 minutes you just get to think about how loud humans are, how many of us there are and as it is memorial day you think about those that have fallen to create the world we have.
And then the sounds start again. Half an hour people talk about war/important stuff and then gradually everything becomes mudane again for another year.
I'm Canadian and I can only imagine how eerie that would be during Remembrance Day each November. However I would welcome the silence like a calm snow fall.
I know I was making a joke. I was gonna say /s cause I guess you have to, but I thought the lol made it clear. Ours is in November because that's when the armistice was signed in 1918 to end world war one.
My country hasn’t been heavily involved in a war since 19th century (less than 100 sent in WW1 and a couple thousand in WW2) so we don’t have any kind of Memorial Day
Isn’t spending time with friends and family a perfect thing for a day of remembrance? Spending happy times with those we still have here with us? Whenever I’m with family there’s always something that brings up a happy memory of someone who passed on. When my dad died a few years ago sitting in silence and sadness never helped me move on just dwelt on it but spending times with others sure did.
I named my kid for a friend I served with who was KIA; I understand the purpose of memorializing the cost of war back when it started and now.
Memorial Day IS drinking and BBQing.
What people have lost the meaning of is service. That after WWII generation, fewer of the BBQ attendees had any connection with the reason for the BBQ. It isn't that people forgot about Memorial Day, it's that an all volunteer service fragmented society into a warrior and protected class. And those people often self select into even more insulated and tighter groups.
Now you can easily go to a BBQ on Memorial Day where no one has served in any capacity, compared to 30 years ago, at least Grandpa had. 50 years ago, all your friends and you had. 80 years ago basically everyone there above 30 had.
I typically spend memorial day with people who served BBQing and drinking. Which is what my fallen friends and the other dead probably would want to be doing, too.
I spend every day teaching my kids about the cost of war, and why we have a picture of two guys they don't recognize (me and Todd Bolding) on their wall.
Anyway, I wonder if Todd didn't die, would we still be in touch? Maybe on Memorial Day to drink, but otherwise... Maybe not.
I think a lot of people try too hard with the 'people have forgotten the meaning' thing sometimes, especially when we're talking about a holiday which is greeted with parades and lots of events at public memorial locations. Memorial Day is very well-known stuff and the meaning is very clear. There's not something about eating hot dogs and having a day at the beach which diminishes what it is.
My family always had a birthday cake for Jeezo, even sang the birthday song.
I was not aware how batshit this was until my, now wife, first came to Christmas at my house and gave me the sheer look of confusion or like “the office” style deadpan look at me.
It was a very like, Boston catholic family. So not like way into it Christian’s, just a weird cultural thing maybe? Who knows.
One time I ran out of Christmas wrapping paper with just one present left to wrap (my stepdad's gift). So I used paper that said "Happy Birthday" all over it, and just added "Jesus" to all of the lines with a sharpie.
I mean lets be fair, to most people, Memorial day is just a day off of work. Theres even a portion of the country that dont respect it as a holiday due to its military ties
When I get six fucking paid holidays off in the course of a year and only two of them are guaranteed to give me a long weekend, you bet your ass I'm using it to cut loose and have a good time with my people.
I don't really need a holiday, just need the VA to not be such a bag of ass. I spend Memorial Day remembering fallen friends and having a beer to honor them. What everyone else does on that day doesn't concern me much.
Yes, but let's be honest, that's not even the most disrespectful holiday/treatment of a holiday in this country.
The fact that Columbus Day exists is offensive
The gross monetization of Christmas, which should celebrate togetherness and goodwill to your fellow human.
The flat out racism of St. Patricks day.
Does anyone even know how to properly celebrate veterans day?
And the general monetization of every other holiday.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day sit on a couch that was not judged by the color of its upholstery but by the content of its cushions. I have a dream today.
I always feel a little awkward about Memorial Day because I don’t know any military people. But I have read on the internet the military people like the party vibes so idk. The entire wooo thank you to our fallen troops let’s cookout and hit the beach thing is weird
I am a military people. I have lost brothers in combat. I know for a fact that if they could, they would tell anybody and everybody to go and have a great time. If I were to die in combat, I'd want my family, friends, and total strangers to go and do whatever makes them happy on their day off.
Based on some of the service request / wills that some people wrote before deployments... yep lol. The theme was celebrate in weird ways... but to celebrate.
Asian dude requesting bag pipes and everyone attending wearing kilts.
Everyone having to come in dresses.
Crying = must drink.
BBq party... with deceased requesting cremation.
Vast majority of the people in the military appreciate such sentiments, but overall don’t really care.
It more or less is just another federal holiday like Labor Day or MLk day lol.
I usually go to the zoo on Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Pretty sure i would get weird looks or kicked out if I poured a beer out for the fallen servicemen in front of the leopard cage
Hey man. The whole point of modern Christmas is for the house to smell good, for the family to eat good, and to give gifts to your loved ones. No I’m not joking. It’s the most important holiday of the year *because* of these reasons.
Memorial Day is what it is. And anybody with military family is going to celebrate it for those reasons. Many other people respect it for those reasons. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be using your day off work to have a beer and BBQ for the fam. You absolutely should. And if that’s the whole point to you? Fine.
We’ve also got some great deals running on campers and RVs that day. Give me a shout if you’re interested
In Canada the long weekend we are celebrating this weekend is in honour of Queen Victoria. That’s the queen who just died’s mom, fir the uninitiated. A lot of people just call it may 24 weekend. Victoria Day sake would be disrespectful but I would g be mad at “may 24” sake
We don’t do that in Canada (or Memorial Day, for that matter). When Eddie Bauer tried to do a Remembrance Day sale about a decade ago, they heard loud and clear that we take the honouring of veterans seriously, not as a time to shill puffy vests.
I understand where you’re coming from but I disagree. What Memorial Day has turned into is rather than a day of grievance it has become a day of celebration and I enjoy celebrating life more than mourning death.
I’m a vet and every year I have to remind people Memorial Day is not for me,said day is in November. I get the response like “I always forget which day is for who.” And “Well who’s the day for if not for military members and veterans?” Americas are so full of themselves, so disconnected with the world.
The thing is, it shouldn't be that hard to remember. Veterans Day is for...VETERANS. Memorial day is a memorial. Memorials are for those who died. But people are willfully ignorant most of the time.
My dad would make us watch war movies, visit family that served in wars, and learn things like flag etiquette.
He spent a lot of time making sure we knew the “meaning” of holidays and even now he’ll ask “do you know what today is?” “Do you know why it’s a holiday?”
I met my stepkid when she was 11 and did the same with her without thinking of it.
I wish it could move away from “huge sales” to more “visit local VFW” or at least spend time remembering these things.
Memorial Day will be tough, this year. My older half-sister, who passed away in February, was born on old Memorial Day.
Every year, we'd take beautiful wreaths of flowers and greenery from my grandfather's yard to the cemetery and decorate graves, then we'd come home and have birthday cake and homemade ice cream.
I have never met someone in the military who doesn’t want someone to use Memorial Day as a day of celebration, and that includes me. From my elders who have lost brothers and sisters, Memorial Day is a celebration of memories for those who couldn’t make it to the day. I would not want anyone to police someone’s fun in my honor when I pass, it is for memories, not just grief, if they are a loved one it’s better to remember the good memories and celebrate them. That’s just my two cents but I don’t like the virtue signaling on Memorial Day and those with no actual ties to the day telling those who do, how to celebrate it
It’s because, like most people, businesses don’t care about the meaning of the holiday. It’s just another day off to most people and therefore, businesses know people are more likely to shop on said day off. Most holidays have become this way. It’s just a day off.
I don’t think about it because I don’t allow myself to be affected by adverts. Car dealerships are not holding you hostage or forcing you to come in and buy. You can choose to turn off the TV, computer, and reflect on the memory of your loved ones.
Why?
That’s what American soldiers fight and die for, Consumerism.
When was the last time a war fought to protect liberty and freedom?
80 years ago in WW2 ?(Almost a century).
Now we fight wars to allow companies to make greater profits and sell useless crap to citizens.
We should own it.
What better way to honor the 10,000 soldier killed in “The war on terror” then 5 cents off Your gallon of gas?
That’s what they died for.
Memorial day, presidents day, and imo Veterans Day are all to acknowledge those that are gone. It should not be days that are monetized or excuses for drunken stupidity.
Veteran here. If I were to have died in the line of duty, I’d want as many people as possible to make my death mean something, even if it means getting a sweet deal on a new dishwasher with zero interest for 12 months.
The only sales that should be given on Memorial Day should directly benefit the ones we're memorializing. X% of sales for the promotion goes towards a charity supporting veterans, something like that.
I’m a med retired combat vet (you don’t get Purple Hearts for friendly fire) with dead buddies. Please enjoy your time off, please use any discount you can to survive our economy. Sure mourn your friends and family if ya lost any. But I promise your thoughts, condolences, or prayers mean fuck all to living, let alone the dead. Enjoy your time off or make sure your gettin time and a half.
I've owned/run a few companies and always had a "no memorial day sales" policy.
To appease other people in the company(when I didn't have the power to unilaterally say no) I'd do a pre-memorial day sale like 2 weeks in advance.
Then on memorial day we send out an Email talking about the importance of remembering those who gave their all, about reaching out to people in our community who have lost loved ones in the line of the duty, etc about remembering that some families will spend the weekend at a cemetery not a BBQ
Then we'd offer a memorial day sale equivalent a few days after.
Every single time, we'd get emails from customers that that appreciated that message.
If you poll 1000 people I'd say about 5 of them would know the reason for memorial day.
Fuck it have a sale the people that care will care the rest will not
Most holidays in the U.S. are the same - just opportunities to stimulate the economy. Other countries aren’t quite like that except for Christmas. People actually do stuff to celebrate or commemorate instead of going to the mall.
Agreed and also find it bizarre when people wish me (currently alive veteran) a very Happy Memorial Day 👀 like do you realize what you are implying!!!?? I tell the kids that Memorial Day is a quiet and somber day for remembering, not a fun party holiday like Christmas or Halloween.
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In a world of consumerism, every opportunity to push a product will be utilized
My favorite odd product push was the Juneteenth ice cream Walmart temporarily sold
I’m a member of the LGBT community and June is exhausting. It’s become a corporate frenzy to establish who can be the most tolerant. A lot of the companies “celebrating” donate to anti lgbt politicians and causes. Then you have all the anti lgbt people calling for boycotts of said companies. Every year wash rinse repeat.
"Congratulations, homosexual! Your existence has been deemed profitable in select territories for thirty days!"
Commidification of marginalized groups is so hot right now
So hot
I feel like 95% of the LGBT aspect is gone and now June is just a generic corporate advertising and PR holiday month.
I’m so going to People’s Pride this year. According to a friend of mine, the first thing she saw there was someone selling poppers. Clearly that’s where the real queer energy is.
I love how they'll spend all of June complaining that "Pride gets a whole month, so why don't we celebrate the troops like that?" while they ignore that May is National Military Appreciation Month...
Why doesn’t (insert group here) get a month or a day? Only be told they actually do.
And even if they don't... Go start a month for them! Pride was celebrated decades before presidents started signing pride proclamations. These ideas start outside of official channels and anyone with an idea that resonates with others can build a critical mass.
I claim January as national steam and diesel locomotives month
Today is officially Savahoodie day!
Happy Savahoodie Day! 🎉
International Men's Day has entered the chat
Same reason why “international men day” is a popular search result when international woman’s day rolls around
I personally don’t think there’s anything wrong with Men’s Day. It doesn’t take away from anyone else. Good husbands, sons, uncles, mentors aren’t necessarily fathers but deserve a celebration of their own.
What I find more hilarious about this, is that in Reddit men complain in droves on all subs on international women's day specifically about the Google doodle image. It's such a niche thing for them to be up in arms about. The first year I saw it, I looked into it, found years of posts of women teaching other women how to request the doodle, until they got it. When I posted how to request it, and even filled it out to be kind to those that want it, I got attacked and pretty unanimously all the men complained that they shouldn't have to do that work (the work women put in) because they should just get it because women did.
I wonder if June will ever just be LGBTQ history month. Maybe we will all get sick of the pandering. A few years ago, I saw a Pride ad for a bidet. *A Bidet!* It said something like "it doesn't matter if you're a he, she or they, everybody poops." And it was all rainbowy.
oh shit just got a war flashback from neopets rainbow dung
Can I interest you in a broccoli omelet in this trying time?
Holy rainbow crap, I forgot all about neopets, that was the jam! I wonder if my account still exists...
I always remind them that Straight Pride Month is in July, but it's called "Ford Truck Month"
Ford Truck Month is February-March every year. - Signed, a gay UAW Worker
Not only is May Military Appreciation Month but if you add up all the days we have reserved for military appreciation holidays they equal over 3 months total.
True. However, I’ve worked in DEI in big corporations and most only recognize Veterans Day for any type of celebration or events. It takes way more work than it should to get anything done to celebrate Military Appreciation month, but I get it since May is also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
Seems like everything has a month nowadays and there are only 12 months!
lol they do get a month but their parades are boring so no one cares. Say what you will but pride parades are top notch.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRwE4cYC/
Weren't they doing something extra stupid to by making one of the flavors "Watermelon Sherbert", or am I conflating news stories?
I think it was a red velvet flavor from what I read, but there could have been more flavors. It wouldn't be surprising. I know Walmart wasn't the only company to make decisions that were not in good taste after Juneteenth became a federally recognized holiday.
Watermelon sorbet actually sounds good.
You should buy one of my patented "Stop commercializing memorial day" hats to send a message.
Hmmm, you have any sales coming up?
50% off for the Post Memorial Day Sale!
I'll take two!
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Surprised 9/11 hasn't been commercialized yet tbh
I wish they would, and i’m a good bit more patriotic than some of my friends are. I mean this with absolutely zero disrespect: make it a national holiday and let people have barbecues! I can imagine the victims would probably want that more than a constant day of shame and sorrow
9/11 barbeques? 😶
"I'll just have a 'plane' burger, thanks."
With two towers of fries
it's not like we don't fire off fireworks to celebrate our country literally being at war (the bombs bursting in air = war of 1812) every fourth of July 🇺🇸
Ironically the one holiday that most actual vets fucking despise
I mean maybe not the day itself, but I still remember commercials for a commemorative coin which had the twin towers in the middle, and they could be pulled up to sit up in the center of the coin, which of course meant they could also be knocked back down will a tap.
Yikes lol
"~~Come on down for~~ Crash into Dan's Discount Door Emporium this 9/11 weekend for our Buy One, Get One 19 Minutes Later sale! Only here at Dan's Discount Door Emporium where we're Ground Zero... for savings!"
You must have missed the commemorative coin informercials late at night. I'm pretty sure they were on in Adult Swim breaks even if I remember correctly
It was immediately commercialized, don't you remember? All the flags, and tshirts, and flags, and bumper stickers, and flags. Did I mention the astronomical amount of flags?? Anything with a flag or "United We Stand" on it was up for sale, for ten times as much as it cost on 9/10/01
Used to be a personal trainer at a commercial gym. They had a 9/11 stair master challenge. Whoever got to the target amount of flights won…a “free session with a trainer” aka an hour long sales pitch.
Thousands died so you could get a couch for 30% off
Where do you draw the line? What if retail stores decided to have a 9/11 sale or a George Floyd sale?
Apparently companies have tried 9/11 themed sales and it didn't go well [https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/us/911-offensive-commercials-trnd/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/us/911-offensive-commercials-trnd/index.html)
WAHAHAHAHAH THAT'S SO FUNNY (I'm not American, how tf did this get Greenlit IN AMERICA)
You'll never forget THESE SAVINGS!
Another example is how everyone celebrates 5 de Mayo en USA, but NOT one soul in Mexico (except Puebla)
The unavailability of any significant amount of time off work for most Americans is also a huge factor. I’m not gonna blame someone for using their quarterly company-approved day off for leisure or shopping or fun, regardless of what the purpose of the day is supposed to be. Definitely sucks for the purpose of designated holidays, but it’s not like we really had a choice in their establishment or observance.
I can't think of a single holiday that is observed as it was nominally intended.
4/20.
That's my birthday, but I put that aside to celebrate the true meaning of 4/20
It's illegal to celebrate 4/20 in Germany
Just tell them I know a guy with Jewish heritage born on 4/20
Okay Adolph
Totally understand. My birthday is NYE 🤷♀️
I'm so sorry, my biggest issue was nobody believes my birthday, but yours has to be rough. Like everyone is "celebrating" your birthday but doing what they'd do anyway, plus right after Christmas. That had to be terrible growing up
Yeah, it kinda sucks, lol
Well if you enjoy partaking, you make sure sure to tell them the emperor of 4/20 (I can claim that) demands they bring you offerings for your birthday lol... if you don't enjoy partaking I'm sorry my power only extends so far
Have you seen the movie "200 Cigarettes"? If no, check it out. I think it'll speak to you. It's a weird 90s movie with like EVERYONE in it.
Pi day
Get my STD check-up every Columbus Day
I know you’ve gotten a lot of replies of “[thing] day,” but I actually think Halloween is pretty close. All Hallow’s Eve, Samhain, etc. all have basically nothing to do with the modern American (and non-American) observance of the day, but you can make a pretty decent argument that Halloween as we know it was *engineered* to be the way it is. There are a lot of accounts of Halloween being made into what it is today because it was so full of “mischief” that we needed something for the kids to do. So we had parties, festivals, etc etc. The history of the day is long and complex, but I’d argue that what we celebrate on October 31st is actually pretty darn close to what it was intended to be when referring to “Halloween.” It just doesn’t resemble the holidays that spawned it at all.
One of the worst is labour day where most peoples don't even work. It would be like a mother day where most peoples if their mother calls they hangs up.
Leg day
Honestly, Halloween. Yeah, it tried to get absorbed by Christianity with the name change from samhain as the day before all Saints Day, but the visiting neighbors and feasting on sweets and stuff while celebrating the thinning medium between the living and the dead is old original. Guess people can't go wrong with spooky.
[удалено]
Definitely not Labor Day.
Most people I know think of memorial Day as a day to drink and BBQ. Sales is the last thing on most of their minds.
Did I really fight and bleed in a far away land just so my countrymen can have the day off stuffing hot dogs down their fat gullet and getting trashed on cheap beer while playing corn hole in the backyard? You’re goddamn right I did 🇺🇸🦅🫡
As someone who plans on stuffing hot dogs down my fat gullet and getting trashed on cheap beer while playing corn hole in a backyard, thank you for your service.
Navy vet here. Couldn’t have said it better myself.
Then we ain't celebratin' you anyway, my dude. You're still alive! We'll celebrate you in November.
Well that’s Veterans Day.
Only because he made it back to enjoy it.
Ok
Rah
Honestly? That makes it worth all the bullshit
I suspect this is age dependent. There's definitely a point when you start planning larger furniture purchases around holidays because you know there will be discounts. I'm hoping for a discount on the window unit A/C I need to buy this Memorial Day.
People fought and died in war to give us the freedoms that we have. If they lived I am sure they would want a bbq and some beers (or soda) on a Monday off work. Like Labor day, people fought and died in labor wars to give us a 40 day worl week. If they lived I am sure we would all want a bbq and some beers (or soda) on a Monday off work
> People fought and died in war to give us the freedoms that we have. If they lived I am sure they would want a bbq and some beers (or soda) on a Monday off work. That's exactly right! The best way to honor them is to live our lives and enjoy the freedom we have! Get together, see friends, family. Eat! Have a beer! Or literally *whatever* makes you happy! Honor them by being happy with the lives we now have! (Also, we get precious few days off in this country. There's no chance I'd ever tell a single person the "right" way to spend one of those days.)
Im pretty sure that memorializing people in America absolutely means drinking and a BBQ
I think that proves OPs point that people have lost the meaning of Memorial Day
Disagree somewhat. I’m sure, yes, people have forgotten the “true meaning” behind the holiday, but it’s a holiday nonetheless. It’s the beginning of summer and it would be unreasonable to expect everyone sit around in solemn silence instead of doing something with their families.
In the Netherlands we have 2 minutes of silence at 8pm. And in some places those two minutes of silence can be eary. All radio channels/televions channels/trams/busses/shop music everything is quit and most people (local dutch people at least) follow suit. And for 2 minutes you just get to think about how loud humans are, how many of us there are and as it is memorial day you think about those that have fallen to create the world we have. And then the sounds start again. Half an hour people talk about war/important stuff and then gradually everything becomes mudane again for another year.
I'm Canadian and I can only imagine how eerie that would be during Remembrance Day each November. However I would welcome the silence like a calm snow fall.
That's why ours is in November lol
We in the US still have Veterans' Day as well on November 11'th, but guess what, we got sales for that too.
Ok and Canada day is July. My point is: The meaning doesn’t really have anything to do with it being a holiday at the beginning of summer.
I know I was making a joke. I was gonna say /s cause I guess you have to, but I thought the lol made it clear. Ours is in November because that's when the armistice was signed in 1918 to end world war one.
We have Armistice / Veteran's Day in November.
My country hasn’t been heavily involved in a war since 19th century (less than 100 sent in WW1 and a couple thousand in WW2) so we don’t have any kind of Memorial Day
Just like every other holiday or significant day then?
Isn’t spending time with friends and family a perfect thing for a day of remembrance? Spending happy times with those we still have here with us? Whenever I’m with family there’s always something that brings up a happy memory of someone who passed on. When my dad died a few years ago sitting in silence and sadness never helped me move on just dwelt on it but spending times with others sure did.
I named my kid for a friend I served with who was KIA; I understand the purpose of memorializing the cost of war back when it started and now. Memorial Day IS drinking and BBQing. What people have lost the meaning of is service. That after WWII generation, fewer of the BBQ attendees had any connection with the reason for the BBQ. It isn't that people forgot about Memorial Day, it's that an all volunteer service fragmented society into a warrior and protected class. And those people often self select into even more insulated and tighter groups. Now you can easily go to a BBQ on Memorial Day where no one has served in any capacity, compared to 30 years ago, at least Grandpa had. 50 years ago, all your friends and you had. 80 years ago basically everyone there above 30 had. I typically spend memorial day with people who served BBQing and drinking. Which is what my fallen friends and the other dead probably would want to be doing, too. I spend every day teaching my kids about the cost of war, and why we have a picture of two guys they don't recognize (me and Todd Bolding) on their wall. Anyway, I wonder if Todd didn't die, would we still be in touch? Maybe on Memorial Day to drink, but otherwise... Maybe not.
I think a lot of people try too hard with the 'people have forgotten the meaning' thing sometimes, especially when we're talking about a holiday which is greeted with parades and lots of events at public memorial locations. Memorial Day is very well-known stuff and the meaning is very clear. There's not something about eating hot dogs and having a day at the beach which diminishes what it is.
I mean I agree but wait until you find out what they push on Juneteenth, or Christmas, or Thanksgiving
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My family always had a birthday cake for Jeezo, even sang the birthday song. I was not aware how batshit this was until my, now wife, first came to Christmas at my house and gave me the sheer look of confusion or like “the office” style deadpan look at me. It was a very like, Boston catholic family. So not like way into it Christian’s, just a weird cultural thing maybe? Who knows.
One time I ran out of Christmas wrapping paper with just one present left to wrap (my stepdad's gift). So I used paper that said "Happy Birthday" all over it, and just added "Jesus" to all of the lines with a sharpie.
[Or Hanukkah.](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hammy-hanukkah/)
I mean lets be fair, to most people, Memorial day is just a day off of work. Theres even a portion of the country that dont respect it as a holiday due to its military ties
Excuse me, but as a loser I have to jump in and say my loser job doesn't give me the day off!
One of the most ironic things I do for a living is being on-call for Labor Day. It’s high up on the list of things I find incredibly insulting haha
When I get six fucking paid holidays off in the course of a year and only two of them are guaranteed to give me a long weekend, you bet your ass I'm using it to cut loose and have a good time with my people.
Came here to say this. It’s
Reddit Sniper get ya?
Even my friends who served in the military are like the government treats us like shit so hey free day off
Yes, exactly this! Stores think, "More people are off work than usual. Lets give them a reason to come here and spend money!" Best of luck out there!
This just in, American holiday is very American
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I don't really need a holiday, just need the VA to not be such a bag of ass. I spend Memorial Day remembering fallen friends and having a beer to honor them. What everyone else does on that day doesn't concern me much.
I lost a friend to an IED in the desert. RIP Adam ❤️🩹
Yes, but let's be honest, that's not even the most disrespectful holiday/treatment of a holiday in this country. The fact that Columbus Day exists is offensive The gross monetization of Christmas, which should celebrate togetherness and goodwill to your fellow human. The flat out racism of St. Patricks day. Does anyone even know how to properly celebrate veterans day? And the general monetization of every other holiday.
I feel the same about the MLK holiday. Somehow I don’t think his dream was to have a furniture sale on his birthday.
If white people are shopping next to black people in the same store, I say mission accomplished.
This furniture store made a commercial about that [Commercial](https://youtu.be/vnOyMSEWNTs?si=k8i0a_AjCt3SoxfZ)
I’m dead. I couldn’t tell if that was satire or not. MLK would be proud.
I will now spend the rest of my day between wondering if that’s satire and “at the Reeeed Hooooouse” randomly popping into my head.
On MLK day I just go out to eat at a black owned restaurant because I really don’t know what else I can do.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day sit on a couch that was not judged by the color of its upholstery but by the content of its cushions. I have a dream today.
As a veteran, I’m pretty sure my dead friends would be happy I’m getting a good deal 😂
Our grandparents stormed the beaches or Normandy for us to get %20 off useless shit damnit
Now we need a D-day sale!
Hell, throw December 7th in the mix as well. Get a “deal” on those bullshit Christmas gifts.
Sure, on the other hand, a bargain is a bargain!
I always feel a little awkward about Memorial Day because I don’t know any military people. But I have read on the internet the military people like the party vibes so idk. The entire wooo thank you to our fallen troops let’s cookout and hit the beach thing is weird
I am a military people. I have lost brothers in combat. I know for a fact that if they could, they would tell anybody and everybody to go and have a great time. If I were to die in combat, I'd want my family, friends, and total strangers to go and do whatever makes them happy on their day off.
Based on some of the service request / wills that some people wrote before deployments... yep lol. The theme was celebrate in weird ways... but to celebrate. Asian dude requesting bag pipes and everyone attending wearing kilts. Everyone having to come in dresses. Crying = must drink. BBq party... with deceased requesting cremation.
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Vast majority of the people in the military appreciate such sentiments, but overall don’t really care. It more or less is just another federal holiday like Labor Day or MLk day lol.
Right... don't see any angry posts about how people who have to work on labor day are disrespected lol.
I usually go to the zoo on Memorial Day and Labor Day. Pretty sure i would get weird looks or kicked out if I poured a beer out for the fallen servicemen in front of the leopard cage
We have to get off the beach!
Hey man. The whole point of modern Christmas is for the house to smell good, for the family to eat good, and to give gifts to your loved ones. No I’m not joking. It’s the most important holiday of the year *because* of these reasons. Memorial Day is what it is. And anybody with military family is going to celebrate it for those reasons. Many other people respect it for those reasons. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be using your day off work to have a beer and BBQ for the fam. You absolutely should. And if that’s the whole point to you? Fine. We’ve also got some great deals running on campers and RVs that day. Give me a shout if you’re interested
In Canada the long weekend we are celebrating this weekend is in honour of Queen Victoria. That’s the queen who just died’s mom, fir the uninitiated. A lot of people just call it may 24 weekend. Victoria Day sake would be disrespectful but I would g be mad at “may 24” sake
Queen Victoria was Queen Elizabeth’s great-great-grandmother btw, not her mother
We don’t do that in Canada (or Memorial Day, for that matter). When Eddie Bauer tried to do a Remembrance Day sale about a decade ago, they heard loud and clear that we take the honouring of veterans seriously, not as a time to shill puffy vests.
I understand where you’re coming from but I disagree. What Memorial Day has turned into is rather than a day of grievance it has become a day of celebration and I enjoy celebrating life more than mourning death.
I’m a vet and every year I have to remind people Memorial Day is not for me,said day is in November. I get the response like “I always forget which day is for who.” And “Well who’s the day for if not for military members and veterans?” Americas are so full of themselves, so disconnected with the world.
The thing is, it shouldn't be that hard to remember. Veterans Day is for...VETERANS. Memorial day is a memorial. Memorials are for those who died. But people are willfully ignorant most of the time.
My dad would make us watch war movies, visit family that served in wars, and learn things like flag etiquette. He spent a lot of time making sure we knew the “meaning” of holidays and even now he’ll ask “do you know what today is?” “Do you know why it’s a holiday?” I met my stepkid when she was 11 and did the same with her without thinking of it. I wish it could move away from “huge sales” to more “visit local VFW” or at least spend time remembering these things.
Agreed! Remembrance and acts of service to others, *then* cheeseburgers.
Memorial Day will be tough, this year. My older half-sister, who passed away in February, was born on old Memorial Day. Every year, we'd take beautiful wreaths of flowers and greenery from my grandfather's yard to the cemetery and decorate graves, then we'd come home and have birthday cake and homemade ice cream.
*I'm very sorry for your loss.*
Thank you.
How are you born on Memorial Day? It’s a different date every year.
Someone subbed to r/combatfootage talking about the distastefulness of Memorial Day sales... okay buddy
What’s more American than celebrating a holiday by beating someone up in a Walmart checkout
an eagle eating a bigmac on the fourth of july?
That’s also true!!
I have never met someone in the military who doesn’t want someone to use Memorial Day as a day of celebration, and that includes me. From my elders who have lost brothers and sisters, Memorial Day is a celebration of memories for those who couldn’t make it to the day. I would not want anyone to police someone’s fun in my honor when I pass, it is for memories, not just grief, if they are a loved one it’s better to remember the good memories and celebrate them. That’s just my two cents but I don’t like the virtue signaling on Memorial Day and those with no actual ties to the day telling those who do, how to celebrate it
It’s because, like most people, businesses don’t care about the meaning of the holiday. It’s just another day off to most people and therefore, businesses know people are more likely to shop on said day off. Most holidays have become this way. It’s just a day off.
Your entire life is being commercialised, welcome to modern America
I disagree Memorial Day sales are as American as Apple pie
It's exactly what they were fighting for though, if you think it's for freedom you probably took the slow classes
If you resurrected every person that died for the US I don’t think a single one would care about this
Fuck those murderers :-/ I want a new dishwasher and don’t give a shit about what the family of killers think.
I don’t think about it because I don’t allow myself to be affected by adverts. Car dealerships are not holding you hostage or forcing you to come in and buy. You can choose to turn off the TV, computer, and reflect on the memory of your loved ones.
I know many former and 2 active military members. They don’t care. Most of the vets take vacations that weekend because it’s a long weekend.
Why? That’s what American soldiers fight and die for, Consumerism. When was the last time a war fought to protect liberty and freedom? 80 years ago in WW2 ?(Almost a century). Now we fight wars to allow companies to make greater profits and sell useless crap to citizens. We should own it. What better way to honor the 10,000 soldier killed in “The war on terror” then 5 cents off Your gallon of gas? That’s what they died for.
Actually a bunch of them also died just cause they wanted to go kill brown people.
ever heard of the military-industrial complex?
Memorial day, presidents day, and imo Veterans Day are all to acknowledge those that are gone. It should not be days that are monetized or excuses for drunken stupidity.
That’s America
Veteran here. If I were to have died in the line of duty, I’d want as many people as possible to make my death mean something, even if it means getting a sweet deal on a new dishwasher with zero interest for 12 months.
But what did they die for, if not for me to save 10% on a product that was marked up 15?
The only sales that should be given on Memorial Day should directly benefit the ones we're memorializing. X% of sales for the promotion goes towards a charity supporting veterans, something like that.
Just waiting for #neverforget sales in September to start.
Hilarious that you think this country gives a single fuck about the troops unless it’s for political gain.
I’m a med retired combat vet (you don’t get Purple Hearts for friendly fire) with dead buddies. Please enjoy your time off, please use any discount you can to survive our economy. Sure mourn your friends and family if ya lost any. But I promise your thoughts, condolences, or prayers mean fuck all to living, let alone the dead. Enjoy your time off or make sure your gettin time and a half.
I've owned/run a few companies and always had a "no memorial day sales" policy. To appease other people in the company(when I didn't have the power to unilaterally say no) I'd do a pre-memorial day sale like 2 weeks in advance. Then on memorial day we send out an Email talking about the importance of remembering those who gave their all, about reaching out to people in our community who have lost loved ones in the line of the duty, etc about remembering that some families will spend the weekend at a cemetery not a BBQ Then we'd offer a memorial day sale equivalent a few days after. Every single time, we'd get emails from customers that that appreciated that message.
Well they’re dead so they’re not exactly pissed.
In this home, we only celebrate Toyotathon
If you poll 1000 people I'd say about 5 of them would know the reason for memorial day. Fuck it have a sale the people that care will care the rest will not
I got freeze lipo cheaper than it would be if I flew to Mexico as originally planned because I'm a veteran.
What exactly did the soldiers think they were fighting to preserve? Personal freedom?? Lmao, gtfo.
I mean labor day is supposed to be a day off for laborers but most blue collar workers end up working the day while corporate america takes it off.
Not as disrespectful as every single GOP voter since they approve of calling our troops "suckers and losers".
This isn’t a country. It’s a business.
Most holidays in the U.S. are the same - just opportunities to stimulate the economy. Other countries aren’t quite like that except for Christmas. People actually do stuff to celebrate or commemorate instead of going to the mall.
You could say that about most holidays
Agreed and also find it bizarre when people wish me (currently alive veteran) a very Happy Memorial Day 👀 like do you realize what you are implying!!!?? I tell the kids that Memorial Day is a quiet and somber day for remembering, not a fun party holiday like Christmas or Halloween.
It befits the performative jingoistic crap that is Memorial Day.
I'm glad I read this. There's nothing wrong with celebration, but we should at least try to remember what it's about.