This week, we’re talking with student and Taylor Swift fan, Caleigh, where she talks to us about her experience with AU on her journey toward the legal profession.
We’re also celebrating Ramen Noodle Day, which, believe it or not, is not an April Fools’ prank, but rather an actual day celebrated on April 4th. I have to admit, I first got the article and was thinking “Okay, but the Voice comes out after noon, which is technically after the April Fools’ allowed fooling period.” Fortunately, I searched things out and realized that this is a real thing.
It seems there is pretty much a day for anything you care to name under the sun. There’s a day for pancakes. A day for spaghetti (Jan 2). One for Pizza (Feb 9). Cheesecake. Grilled cheese. Hummus. Ice Cream, and more.
All these days seem crazy, and you’d be understood if you thought it was some sort of crazy conspiracy of the card companies, but when have you ever seen a card for National Grilled Cheese Day (April 12, if you’re wondering)?
Meanwhile, one of the most significant health challenges across North America is obesity, yet it turns out there is not, it seems, a National Salad Day. (Though I suppose the World Vegetarian Day on October 1 might be considered close).
Are we just stupid? At what point does it become the reasonable option to give up on humanity? On one hand, World Obesity Day—a day to help people fight obesity, not celebrate it, just to be clear—was on March 4th this year. The same day as National Pound Cake day. I’ll just let that sit with you for a minute.
And what’s crazier is, nobody cares about any of this. You didn’t even know there was a National Quesadilla day, did you? Of course not, why would you? Yet there is. Somewhere, somebody thought quesadillas were important enough to have their own day. More concerning, however, is that somewhere, somebody thought that anybody else would give a damn.
Of course, the truth is, they don’t. They just want another excuse to market a product and take up our time and attention. After all, if there’s a registered “day” behind it, then it doesn’t seem quite so much like they’re simply trying to get your attention and money, but that they are simply coalescing with the wider society. They’re not trying to get into your wallet, but your heart. If that happens to give them a passage to your wallet, well, they can’t really help that, right?
As I get older, I get more and more aggravated with all advertising. It is the search for advertising dollars that has lead companies like Facebook to encourage harm to our society by constantly seeking to increase “engagement”. It is corporate advertising that has desensitized so many of us to the calls for attention to causes that truly matter, such as obesity, mental health, education, and others. Organizations and people fighting to better society are fighting for our attention among those wanting to sell us bouillabaisse (December 14) and frozen custard (August 8th).
So if AUFA finally does strike sometime after their Ramen Noodle Day strike vote, will anybody really notice? Or will it be drowned amidst the selling of eggs Benedict (April 16) and buttermilk biscuits (May 14)?
Enjoy the read.
