Celebrate Every Day

Celebrate Every Day


December 23, 2021 - Festivus | National Re-Gifting Day

December 22, 2021

Welcome to December 23, 2021 on the National Day Calendar. Today we celebrate a festivus for the rest of us and festive recycling. 

Reader’s Digest author Daniel O’Keefe created a new holiday tradition of “Airing Family Grievances” that was first celebrated in 1966. Today we celebrate this “Festivus for the rest of us,” largely due to the popularity of a Seinfeld episode that was written by O’Keefe’s son. The tv version takes family tension to comedy extremes. Characters roast each other at the dinner table and wrestle around an aluminum pole to display their “feats of strength.” What makes this bit of pop culture so delicious is that it’s all too familiar. No matter how you celebrate the holidays you’re sure to reach the point of screeching “SERENITY NOW!” Ironically Festivus is celebrated on December 23rd in honor of Daniel O’Keefe’s first date with his future wife, which is a kismet miracle in itself.  

It’s the time of year to get presents you don’t want from friends and relatives. Everyone’s been there. Opening a gift in front of your grandmother and having to pretend you love it…Meh. But you could always just re-gift, right? While it’s not considered polite, thousands of people pass along their unloved presents each year. So what’s the proper etiquette in this situation? According to Emily Post, there’s really only one “polite” way to re-gift. If you get two of the same gift, you can pass it along to a friend. But that seems boring. Celebrate National Re-Gifting Day by giving a friend a gift that someone else gave to you and think of it as the ultimate in recycling.  

I’m Anna Devere and I’m Marlo Anderson. Thanks for joining us as we Celebrate Every Day.

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