Today is October twenty-second. Nothing much out of the ordinary going on. The Democrats and Republicans are still playing “I didn’t do it”, and the sign on the big wooden door of the United States government still says “Closed, please call again”. Halloween is approaching, and we have some cooler weather, so it’s just another day, the usual stuff, right?
Wrong! A few years ago, we were perfectly content with the predictable pace of life and a manageable level of required cerebral activity we had to handle. Now, thanks to A.I. (absolute irrelevance), there is another entire universe of information we have to keep up with, and a gazillion screaming tidbits of trivia constantly vying for our attention. If you think today or any other day is just “the usual stuff”, you are guilty of denying reality, or should I say virtual reality, my friend. According to A.I. (agony infinitum), October 22 is not ordinary at all and is in fact celebrated for many, many essential contributions to our national experience. Today, for example, you probably didn’t realize, is National Nut Day, (this can apply to both plants and humans), it is also National Make a Dog’s Day, (I highly approve of anything canine related). October 22 is also National Wombat Day (no further information currently available) as well as National Color Day (not sure why we need this, but it seems harmless enough). October 22 is the official National Scar Day (I guess if you want to share your scar, you should be able to). October 22 is also the official declaration day in the middle of National Free Speech Week. I think we already have this one covered pretty well. This is also National Retirement Security Week, and it is celebrated officially on October 22. (We can never have too much retirement security and especially retirement social security, if you ask me). National Truffle Days in Croatia also comes along on October 22. Anything that involves dogs digging in the woods has got to be fun and worthwhile. Bat Appreciation Week is also presently upon us. (I know they eat bugs, but I’m okay letting Dracula handle the observance with them today). National Teen Driver Safety is also celebrated today (that’s enough to scare anyone, even Dracula). National Chiropractic Health is also observed on October 22 (In fairness, some say it’s not all it’s cracked up to be). Sorry about that. The final national days on this list are serious matters and deserve our continuing awareness and concern. National Crime Prevention, National Substance Abuse Prevention and National Domestic Violence Abuse Prevention are all observed on the 22nd of October but should be recognized every day of every year.
So, to wrap this up, I guess we should thank A.I. for making us aware of some “national days” we didn’t really understand and improving our limited lives and minds with more stuff that we can file away. The lists go on and on and guarantee that from now on there will never be “just another day”. Like us, A.I. can be useful or useless, but it’s here for a while until, like us, it will wear out its welcome. So, like Alan Jackson said, “Don’t Rock the Jukebox”, and remember October is National Country Music Month! (If you can’t celebrate that, you just plain can’t celebrate period.)
