Good morning to all of my friends with “hang ups”. Today is National Hanging Out Day. But what the heck is Hanging Out Day anyway? If you are on Google+, and you guessed that today is a day to start or join a “Hang Out”, you would be….. Wrong. If you guessed that today is a day congregate with your friends and just “hang out”, you would be….. Wrong. National Hanging Out Day celebrates the newest, hippest innovation in solar and wind energy technology; the lowly clothesline. You could save hundreds of dollars each year by using a clothesline instead of that energy inefficient dryer. I don’t know about you, but I miss the smell of clothes dried on a clothesline. If you don’t have a clothesline in your backyard, today would be a good day to visit your favorite home center and buy all of the materials necessary to install one.
Today is also National High Five Day. If you believe Wikipedia, prior to 1977, no one had ever raised their hand above their head and slapped another’s in a celebratory “high five” gesture. That, or no one had thought to give it a name until then. News Flash: My friends and I used this gesture in the late 1950’s, and we weren’t the originators either. The “high five” has been probably around since the dawn of time. I can picture Neanderthal Man, after killing a Wooly Mammoth to feed their clan, sitting around the campfire giving each other “high fives”. In my research, I could find no reason for today being designated as “High Five Day” other than a group of college students from the University of Virginia declaring it so in 2002. I guess that some people are just desperate for notoriety.
Today there are two days of remembrance designated. The first is Oklahoma City Bombing Commemoration Day. The second is Holocaust Remembrance Day or Yom Hashoah. Both of these deserve at least a moment of silent reflection from you today.
If you are a business owner, today is Get To Know Your Customers Day. Really? If you own a business, especially a small business, shouldn’t everyday be “Get To Know Your Customers Day”?
The food related holidays today are National Amaretto Day and Garlic Day. If you are adventurous and creative, you could try putting a shot or two of Amaretto in your favorite tomato/garlic based spaghetti sauce. I don’t think it would kill you. However, trying to create a new ‘cordial’ based upon garlic and Amaretto might prove disappointing. But what the heck, YOLO.