Insight #254
“I supposed I’d better cook lunch for them.” (Bing Image Creator). . .
Listen up, you many kids of all ages. It’s almost Mother’s Day. I know, I know. This year’s Mother’s Day is history, at least in the USA, but I want to prepare you for the upcoming one. Because time moves almost as fast as flowers fade.
You think Mother’s Day is about making mothers happy? Nope. It’s about making florists happy as we sacrifice innocent flowers. (You don’t believe me? Then answer me this. Why do so many countries celebrate Mother’s Day on different dates? I’ll tell you why. To make sure there are enough flowers to go around. Because not all countries grow enough flowers that we can kill off in one go. To give you an idea of the distribution problem: the USA apparently imports about 80%-90% of its flowers. Previously, when all countries celebrated on the same Sunday, the flower shortage triggered what we today call The War of the Roses.)
What about mothers? Believe it or not, this one-day-be-nice behavior does not fool your mother. She worries about your behavior on all 360-odd days.
Let me use my mother as an example. She warned me that women judge a man by how he treats his mother. (Or, if you prefer, “We judge a human by how it treats its mother.”) My mother said she wanted me to be a gentleman. I once read somewhere, at least I think I did, that the true test of a gentleman is how he behaves when nobody is watching.
Whenever I remember this, I have to wonder. How do you treat your mother when florists are not watching?
Mother’s Day has become like an over-commercialized religion. It reminds me of the church-going adults I avoided as a kid, the ones who believed that one day of religion bought them six days of behaving badly.
Please, people, one insincere Mother’s Day card attached to wilting flowers does not earn you 360-odd days of being a brat.
Even Anna Jarvis came to dislike Mother’s Day. (Who? Find her on the Internet and be informed.)
Next up on the be-nice calendar is Father’s Day. Trust me, I’m watching you. Every day.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
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Quote of the Moment: “I could have been a gentleman, but I found it hard enough just being a man.” The Chief Nonsense Officer.
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