Archive for February 17th, 2005

2005.02.17

Happy Holidays or What?

…that robot in their brains calling out to the other robot’s ears…I guess I’m thinking about this because it was just Valentine’s Day, but why is it we have such a penchant for wishing people a “happy” holiday?

Happy Valentine’s, Happy Halloween, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Holidays around about Christmas/Hannukah/Kwanza, Happy New Year, and Happy Bloody Birthday, you old fart. Do we wish people a happy time because we think they won’t without words of encouragement? Could it be that we secretly hope they won’t be happy at all and it’s a subtle sarcasm? Could it be such a habit that we don’t even know what we are saying anymore?

I wouldn’t wish anyone to be unhappy (well, maybe a few special individuals), but their day is going to be what it’s going to be and all the well wishing in the world isn’t going to change that. I think most of us know this so I will discount this notion and put it in the bargain bin. Looking at that list of holidays, though, I can see many of them are filled with expectations. Expectations of love or romance, or getting along with your family, or what gifts you’re giving/getting, or what to expect for the rest of the year.

These expectations build up and they can only let us down, at least most of the time. The only exception seems to be Halloween where we’re so relieved to not have any expectations we party like maniacs. After many years, though, we expect the party to continue unabated and suddenly -whoops!- we have another expectation.

I don’t think most people even think about the words they are saying. They say them out of habit, that robot in their brains calling out to the other robot’s ears as they say goodbye for these holidays… And this, I believe, is the key to why we use the prefix “happy-” even if repetitively and unthinkingly. These holidays are time off from the usual drudgery of school and work. Even if the prospect of facing our family can fill us with dread, or we haven’t figured out our costumes, or we haven’t made reservations at the fancy restaurant our significant other expects us to take them to… at least we aren’t at work, or at school!

It is such a relief to escape from the daily routine that sometimes we are, indeed, happy.