Friday, February 11, 2011

Don't Cry into a White T-shirt.

Today is yet another double holiday, but these holidays both have greater meaning behind them then what almost any person would think from just reading their names. The first holiday is White T-shirt Day. That seems simple enough to celebrate, and I could simply believe that it's just another odd holiday celebrating something for the sake of celebration. I would be wrong! It was actually started by Bert Christenson as White Shirt Day on February 11, 1948, in commemoration of the day the strike ended at General Motors in 1937. The auto workers' strike sat inside the building rather than picket outside, and supporters of their cause marched outside. To see the full story, Google it. ... just kidding here's a link to the wiki.


The second holiday with unseen meaning is Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day. I'm sure we've all spilled milk at least once. Whether it was a complete fumbling of the jug and the subsequent pouring on your floor, or trying to eat cold cereal on the couch and some milk makes it over the lip of the bowl onto your shirt. However, much like the phrase is not meant to be taken as literally as it sounds, the holiday stands for much more. "Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk" is an idiom that seems unused until someone actually spills milk, and then that one person who is 'that guy' that we all know says it. What it means, though, is that some things are of such small significance in the grand scheme of things, that they should not be allowed to affect you greatly should they not go exactly according to plan. See why someone found a way to shorten that? A milk spill is very easy to clean up. Towel + spill = done. Now, some people have different priorities, so what is milk to you may be silver to someone else. I suppose it also depends on the amount of milk. If milk floods your house, then you may be allowed to cry over it. You decide for yourself what is really worth spending your time crying over, though. Trust me, not crying over spilled milk is a great way to start cleaning up that spilled milk.


Thanks for reading!
~Kyle