Have you noticed how many World Days there are these days? I mean most of us know about World Tobacco Day, World AIDS Day and International Women's Day, but a quick visit to the United Nations shows that there's a truck-load of Days out there.
Most of them are unarguably worthy, but do make me wonder what kind of celebratory festivities would be involved, particularly for these ones:
- World Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade
- World Day in Support of Victims of Torture
- World Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking
- World Day in Support of Innocent Child Victims of Aggression
- World Day in Commemorating the Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust
....so I'm boldly assuming that there wouldn't be too many plates of cheezels, balloons tied up into poodle shapes or quirky Peruvian pan-pipe bands urging everyone to kick up their heels and dance.
Some of the other World Days might be worthy but are also very dull-sounding or keen to set themselves up for being completely ignored:
- World Day for Natural Disaster Reduction - and how might this come about, pray tell? Buy a ribbon and somehow Krakatoa and Mt Etna will behave themselves? The teutonic plates under the earth's crust along the fault lines will be good and stay still?
- World Development Information Day - did this get slipped in by a Cardigan from the Corporate Planning Unit wanting to justify their job? Zzzzzz......
- World Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict - yep, that's what'll be first thing in the minds of guerilla soldiers as they're laying on their elbows in the mud of the Amazon jungle or running away from seven year old snipers in Africa.
- World Civil Aviation Day - sorry, was I supposed to be riveted? Besides, there's nothing civil about airline service or airport queues from what I've observed.
- World Anti-Corruption Day - yep, this one'll work and change the world - who paid to get this one the official tick?
- World Book and Copyright Day - fascinating; no really - utterly fascinating the swirling hotbed of copyrights must be in order to have a world day to commemorate it
Some that sound rather questionable as to why the entire World needs to stop and observe them as an entire day for themselves include:
- World Television Day - Oh Please......
- International Mountain Day - Yep, we have mountains in the world. Yay!
- World Human Solidarity Day - Um, okay; I guess we could be nicer to each other.
- World Telecommunication and Information Society Day - What the - zzzzzzzzz......
- International Mother Language Day - Mother Language? I didn't even know we even had a Mother Language. Did we vote on it when I was out?
- World Day of Cooperation - Sure, it's a nice concept but Sesame Street already do this exceptionally well.
- World Day of Families - Fine. If they're too busy to call, you call.
And some that aren't officially recognised by the UN might find themselves struggling a bit for worldwide acceptance, let alone interest:
- World Reiki Day - get your hands off-a me!
- World Audio-Visual Heritage Day - sounds about as exciting as searching for toenail clippings under the sofa cushions.
- World Rotaract Day - come on, the world needs more adventure playgrounds and BBQ areas.
- World Wetlands Day - sure, sure but it just doesn't sound anything but soggy.
- World Hospice Day - as with mountains, they exist. Yay hospices....
- World Bread Day - Ohferpharkssakes, BREAD day? What about Cheese Day? Ice-cream Day? COFFEE day?
Of course, I have - MUST ask - where the hell is World Chocolate Day??
11 comments:
You get my vote for world chocolate day.. um - what's with mountain day? Maybe mountain day and natural disaster reduction day can team up...
Did you realise that ribbons are incredibly efficient against seismic activity? It's been proven. Really...
I dunno, Kath - seems like you're shooting for easy targets here. Why don't you have a go at the concept of the alleged need for World Days in the first and what it says about the general toothlessness of the UN overall?
And some of the cracks here appear deliberately unknowing - I mean, of course Mother Language day refers to our first languages.
You're a great blogger - go deeper.
(Although, I must admit, a few are quite puzzling:
World Day in Support of Innocent Child Victims of Aggression?
Is there a separate day for the guilty ones?
And as for World Reiki Day - I'm against it!
Okay - this is a bit fun, but I stand by the fact that you're a better blogger than someone who just picks at the surface fun to be had at the expense of some poor little NGO somewhere finally getting the UN to ratify their cause with an official day.)
And it occurs to me that Natural Disaster reduction might be a thinly veiled reference climate-change-type disasters: floods, drought, cyclones, not building stuff on faultlines ...
Jeez - I'm a real bitch this morning, eh?
Time to celebrate National Intravenous Caffeine Month!
Of course they're easy targets, Franzy, but it took a fair bit of digging around to find the days, get the titles right, check that they really do exist and are officially recognised, etc. Takes a bit of work to look this slack you know.
...plus we're packing for an Easter camping trip, so it was written interspersed with Love Chunks calling out from the shed, "Do you think we need to take two fold up tables?", "Where are the bowls?" and "Did you throw my head torch out?".
....AND I have to work out just how I'm going to prevent the Easter rabbits and eggs from not looking like melted road kill when they're squashed in a tightly packed car and baking in the sun!
But yeah, I'll try and go deeper with the next blog. (Damn, that means my list of search phrases will have to wait awhile).
I'm still waiting for World Blogging Day.
I prefer the special years. Did you know last year was the International Year of the Potato?
Well, there's always my personal favourite International Talk Like A Pirate Day. Aaarrrghhh!
International Year of the Potato, eh? That's a fair old departure from teh one I remember in 1979 - the International Year of the Child: "Care for kids, try to always be there for kids, won't you let down your hair for kids; try to always be theeeere for kids...."
I like the Pirate day idea, DKG - or can we have Ssssspeak like Allan Ssssseale or the guy with the Ssssssqueaky Sssstatesssman from the Ultra Tune ad day?
Sapphire read this and said that she's endured a 'World Wash Your Hands Day' and 'World Only Bring Fresh Food To School Day'. Better than 'Finding Fun in Fibre Day' I suppose.....
I'd support World Stay In Bed Until 10am Day.......
I AM NOT INTERESTED IN EXCUSES! I ONLY VANT REZZULTZ!!
Geez Franzy - get some **sleep** you brand new father you and change that shirt while you're at it - it's got poo stains on it!
The whole concept of World This Day, or World That Day, is just stupid.
Who. Cares. ?
It gets a bit of airplay, in the oh-so-politically-correct ABC news - World Weasel Stomping Day, or what not, with a comment from some bleeding heart if lucky. Yawn. Tell me when something real is happening.
For crying out aloud, all these causes are about as exciting is sitting down around the wireless to listen to the results of the local bowls championships. For a whole day.
Whoever came up with the idea should be shot. Its a stupid idea, poorly executed, and therefore useless.
Makes a few oxygen thieves feel better, but otherwise, achieves nothing. Get rid of it all.
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