Opinion

Every day should be a holiday

Woodrow Forbes
Guest Columnist

Getting wished happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day for the first time in my life Monday made me think.

What it made me think, I donit really know, but I just felt like sharing the nice experience, which may have been exactly what the gentleman who wished me a happy holiday wanted to do. I guess he wanted to spread good vibes the special day had given him.

Not to discount the holiday, which is, indeed, important to recognize and to American culture, but not just days designated by "The Man" as important should be cause for elation.

And, no, Iim not trying to be some sappy fool that thinks every day is a special and beautiful day to be alive. Some days, no one wants to deal with the crap life has to offer. Hell, some days suck.

Itis just that positive things do happen on other days. So share every-day cheer, not just the goodness social convention dictates.

For instance, today happens to be the day my first (as if you couldnit tell by now) Opinion column was published, so Iim going to tell people about it.

Most of them wonit care. But I do, and for the others who do, maybe my enthusiasm will be a little infectious, and theyill feel better for the day.

So if something good happens to you, tell people. You canit hurt anything, and you may not help anything either.

Or if nothing good actually happens to you -- well, itis probably your fault. You have to look for it because itis not every day that something momentous happens.

Good stuff, which, not surprisingly, I broadly define as anything thatis not negative, comes from people we see every day. Unfortunately, most of it is complete idiocy that, we, for some reason, find amusing.

Honestly, I canit begin to count the number of useless conversations Iive had that still make me smile just because they were funny. And that was good.

Visiting this newsroom, which is something those of you who donit want to read drivel like this should do, is, well, frightening because the conversations are never-ending brilliant displays of biting sarcasm that would scare the non-mentally deranged.

However, itis good.

I canit tell you why pithy remarks make me smile, but they do, so theyire good. And telling people about our little demented world makes them chuckle.

Basically, the point of this column, which Iive finally decided on, is that life is good.

Nothing -- except this column -- is inherently bad.

Sure, stuff that is not so good, like getting your leg caught in a bear trap, happens, and thereis not much that can be done about it. So you just remember that the next time youire stumbling drunkenly through a forest, avoiding the large shiny objects is a good idea.

As an aside, Iive done my share of drunken stumbling but never in the forest, and I have broken my leg, which wasnit intoxication related.

I guess Voltaire would agree with me. This is definitely not the best life we can have, but it isnit the worst. So, like Voltaire wrote at the end of <I>Candide<P>, let your garden grow.

Forbes, a sophomore philosophy major, can be reached via dccampus@uh.edu.