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Monday, March 31, 2014

April 1st, you evil bastard...

April Fool's Day, the day we honor the bully.

The origins on April Fool's Day date back to a time when counting was an imprecise art and calendars were changed on a regular basis. In more modern and civilized cultures we change calendars by putting new pictures over nice, orderly numbers. Back in the day, they added extra months. This was all highly confusing, especially for the illiterate population (meaning about 80% of the population), and led to some people mistakenly celebrating New Year's Day on April 1st as they had for centuries.

Since some utter bastard in Rome had gone and changed the calendar those who stubbornly stuck to their April celebrations were teased and ridiculed into celebrating in January - the month of Janus - and were eventually silenced (or bullied to death).

To say it's not my favorite holiday might be something of an exaggeration. I can't name all the holidays that crowd the calendar any more. I don't know when International Pancake Day is, or Grandparent's Day, or Mothering Sunday. So, who knows, maybe there's a worse holiday. Or maybe I miss the joy of pranks... I was never into pranks as a kid. They always seem a little mean, but I know adults who think gluing a quarter to the sidewalk is THE final word in humor.

...

I worry about those people.

If you want funny, go read some Terry Pratchett. Find a satirist you love. Tell knock-knock jokes.

And forgive me if I'm not online giggling about Netflix not optioning Firefly (I'm still not over that!), or watching a funny prank where someone's chair "broke" and now they're in the hospital. Human suffering isn't funny. Cruelty is not cool.

However, if you have a corny knock-knock joke, feel free to leave it in the comment box for me. I love a good knock-knock joke (kid safe please!).

5 comments:

  1. Actually, until 1745, in the developed world, New Year's Day was March 25th. Never could work out why they changed years mid month...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ... This makes the whole thing even more confusing. March 25th isn't even Spring Equinox.

      Is there an explanation for this? A saint's day or something? Or did they just pick a random day of the year for New Year's?

      Delete
  2. Never been a big fan of pranks. Although according to youtube I'm wrong.

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    Replies
    1. The videos of people crashing or falling and hurting themselves? I never understood why you would post a video of a traumatic injury. Or why anyone would want to watch them as compilations of Funniest Falls 2013. o.0

      So weird. Borderline sociopathic weird. I'm not sure it's healthy to enjoy the pain of other people.

      Delete
  3. The only thing I like about April 1st is it's my little sister's birthday. I think April Fools jokes are annoying at best and horrifyingly cruel at worst. I avoid celebrating it as anything other than a birthday. Then again, I don't find much funny, though especially things where people get hurt.

    ReplyDelete