rcd@ico.ISC.COM (Dick Dunn) (10/06/89)
[This posting has wide distribution because it applies (perhaps in unusual
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MadHatterDay
1989: MadHatterDay IV
1. What Is It?
MadHatterDay is a holiday in October. It fills the need for a
second crazy day in the year, almost exactly half a year from
April Fools' Day. The real spirit of MadHatterDay is turnabout:
The nonsense we usually have to pretend is sane can be called
madness for one day in the year; the superficially crazy things
that really make sense can be called sane on MadHatterDay.
MadHatterDay is 10/6. The date was chosen from the illustrations
by John Tenniel in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, wherein the
Mad Hatter is always seen wearing a hat bearing a slip of paper
with the notation "In this style 10/6". We take this as inspira-
tion to behave in the style of the Mad Hatter on 10/6 (which is
October 6 here, although in Britain MadHatterDay occurs on June
10...but I digress...) Some astute observers have noted that the
paper in the Mad Hatter's Hat was really an order to make a hat
in the style shown, to cost ten shillings sixpence. However, it
is well known that Time Is Money, and therefore Money Is Time,
and therefore 10/6 may as well be the sixth of October.
MadHatterDay began in Boulder, CO, in 1986, among some computer-
folk who had nothing better to do. It was immediately recognized
as valuable because they caused less damage than if they'd been
doing their jobs. It was announced that first year on computer
networks. In 1987 it gained minor local recognition. In 1988, it
was first recognized as an official holiday by an area business,
and also received its first national press coverage by news ser-
vices (who are always desperate for an unlikely story). It is
almost certain that the national election also gave MadHatterDay
a good boost in 1988.
Detailed plans for this year's MadHatterDay observance will, of
course, be announced on October 7. We have found that plans made
after the fact are more accurate and much easier to have ful-
filled. Or, as the Red Queen said, "sentence first, then the
verdict!"
2. What Goes?
What do people do on MadHatterDay? In general, we celebrate sil-
liness. But what if your work involves something inherently
silly--say marketing, where you put on a three-piece suit (five
or six layers of fabric) in the summertime, tie a piece of cloth
around your neck to restrict blood flow to the brain, and set
about trying to convince people to buy things they don't want and
can't afford because this will give the country a Healthy Econ-
omy? In this case, doing something absolutely sane will have a
more startling effect than you can possibly imagine.
Your world is crazier than you think:
* We travel around by taking the juice from hundred-million-
year-old rotten dinosaur food and exploding it in a metal
can.
* A "sports fanatic" is not someone who participates in
sports, but someone who sits indoors on a beautiful day,
drinking beer while yelling at the picture on a little box.
(Throw the ultimate football party: Forget the TV; just sit
around eating and drinking with friends.)
* As much as we say we like to "get away from it all", the
more successful we are, the more we take it all with us when
we go. (Take a vacation with all the comforts of home:
Just stay home!)
* We're so well-fed that we're getting food with intentionally
reduced nutritional content--so we can take the trouble to
eat without getting the benefit of doing so. (Enjoy the
ultimate in fast-diet-food: Skip lunch.)
* We've saved so much gift-giving for the Christmas season
that it has entirely unbalanced the flow of cash and consu-
mer goods through the year. So merchants decided to start
the season early to have something to do the rest of the
year. (There's now only one major gift-giving holiday--but
it lasts for five months. Surprise someone with a
MadHatterDay present.)
...and it goes. Take a look around you, drop your assumptions
about what must be proper and normal, and see how much of it is
just silly. Better yet, try to find something that does make
sense.
Don't hurt anyone. Save the pranks for April 1. This is "a
Kinder, Gentler Fool's Day."
What's MadHatterDay IV?
IV silliness, of course!
--
+---------+ Dick Dunn rcd@ico.isc.com ico!rcd (303)449-2870
| In this | 4th annual MadHatterDay [10/6/89]:
| style | A Thousand Points of Madness
|__10/6___|