I have two peeves with Family Day. Firstly, the concept. I feel like things like family are so fundamental that they ought not to need a commemorative day, because that suggests that these basics are in need of protection, which in turn means they are under assault, which therefore means that we are undermining the very things that make our lives possible and worthwhile. I mean, do we have a day to celebrate the air that we breathe? The earth that we all rely on?
The second (more immediate, more tangible, much bigger) problem that I have with Family Day is that I don’t get it. Argh! I work for the federal government and Family Day is a provincial holiday. So every third Monday of February, I board an empty streetcar and wind through empty city streets to the downtown core. I enter one of its usually bustling high towers, except that day it is just a grim building with dimmed lights, and elevators on access card operation only, and the odd tumbleweed. In addition to the offices, all the shops and restaurants in the surrounding area are closed, so heaven help you if you’ve forgotten your lunch. My family-less co-workers and I soundlessly float through the halls and haunt our own offices until we drift back to the empty city once more.
Like I need another reason to go crazy.
4 Mothers 