October is ... National Spinach Lovers Month?

    October is a busy month. The calendar bursts with events devoted to raising awareness, showing appreciation and emphasizing issues on a national scale. October is dedicated to many serious issues: It is Latino Heritage Month, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Gay and Lesbian History Month, National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and National Crime Prevention Month, to name a few.
    The month is also pledged to a number of much less solemn topics. October is Eat Better, Eat Together Month; National Roller Skating Month; Spinach Lovers Month; and National Sarcastic Awareness Month.
    Just one day in October boasts a whole host of scheduled observances. For instance, Oct. 30 is deemed Checklist Day, Create a Great Funeral Day, Devil's Night, Haunted Refrigerator Night, International Bandanna Day, National Candy Corn Day and National Forgiveness Day.
    Even though the month has only 31 days, the Daily found 84 different official and unofficial full-month observances, 54 weekly observances and 121 single-day observances. The sheer quantity of these events is overwhelming, and leads us to wonder whether many of the activities, topics and objects deserve as much recognition as some of the others in the first place. Moreover, who actually celebrates all of the observances? One can only hope that not too many actually participate in Create a Great Funeral Day.
    While "national" days are literally acts of Congress, others are created by companies, special interest groups, sports teams or other bodies that simply devote one day to something. Official or not, these accumulate.
    Bombarded with so many options for observances, most of us do not have time to acknowledge or devote attention to many of the issues raised, whether they are serious or humorous. We become jaded by all the advertisements and announcements.
    One day should not be dedicated to seven unrelated, variously esoteric events with unpredictable degrees of seriousness; this barrage detracts from the issues that really deserve our consideration. We are distracted from subjects that merit great attention by a certain product, pop-culture phenomenon or random object that someone once fancifully thought to commemorate. We should put our energy toward concentrating on prominent national issues, not haunted refrigerators or bandannas. While celebrating such items can undoubtedly be entertaining, they hardly merit public endorsements.
    Congress recognizes October as both National Domestic Violence Awareness Month and National Roller Skating Month. Surely, these two do not deserve the same amount of attention. Our government has failed to distinguish between gravity and triviality.
    With Halloween and daylight-saving time fast approaching, October is winding down. The Daily urges all to take note of the more important issues highlighted during the last 29 days. We ought to give the legitimate issues raised during the course of this month their due, and let the true message of these "days" and "months" seep in: to be aware of them not only for 24 hours or 31 days, but throughout the course of our daily lives.