The Inside Story Matty Unhappy Returns of The Day

Northern Advocate, 2 December 1939, Page 12

The Inside Story Matty Unhappy Returns of The Day

to those who count forgetJ fulness .among their frailties, this dissertation will not have a sharp point. Among old customs which crowd upon the complexities of modern existence, and wnich have still to be honoured in a time when so many things of the past are being repudiated, is observance of anniversaries. By that I do not mean dates of historical or national importance, when flags flutter to remind the unwary.

■pVEN those of us brave enough to .admit being Scotch only in spirit, had the greatest difficulty this week, tor instance, in passing by St. Andrew’s Day unheard. The shamrock of the Irishman lor is it Eireman) and the leek of the Welshman are visual .aids to an indifferent memory. Perhaps the reason for the Maori being considered the happiest race on earth is that they have no set day to observe and remember; they have so many causes for rejoicing that the excuse for a feast can be found any time the larder is full. r pHANKS to the rod of instruction, most of us are aware that Trafalgar Day' falls somewhere in the vicinity of the day now set apart as one of national rest for the labouring classes. But while Roman, or is it bank, holidays are so. easy to remember, private anniversaries fall into a different category.

<npHE man with only his own birthday to concern himself about is indeed in a happy position. To .a bachelor gay, headaches usually come after the event rather than before. But when a family man knows that the time is approaching when the natal day of his spouse or one of the brood is due for observance, his lot is one deserving the greatest commiseration. At no time in the year is the sin of neglect cast into greater relief than

when hubby fails to recall that 11 years have elapsed since he lost his freedom, or that it is little Willie’s fifth birthday. MOST parents will agree that the very young make it difficult for their anniversaries to be forgotten. In fact, like our paternal financial parent, Mr Nash, they are in the habit of presenting their poll tax demands well in advance. With them even the colour of the jelly for the high tea to follow is often specified. But with the lady of the household it is a different matter. There may exist the completest sharing of confidences within a household except on this one point—or rather two—mother’s birthday and the wedding anniversary. * $ # |->UT with a growing family and an ever-lengthening inventory of red letter days, the parent is apt to become dazed with the responsibilities of his own creation. In this perhaps, lies the reason for the sparing modern family, when anything more than three birthdays per annum is regarded in the nature of an abnormality. To overcome this disinclination on the part of married people to add to the incidence of the birthday tax many strange devices, ranging from furniture bonuses to Mussolini kisses for mothers have been adopted.

r pO return to forgetfulness, the 1 “Private D” has in operation a fool-proof system which he commends to fellow benedicts. By special arrangement he receives on the eve of his wife’s birthday a card from an insurance company congratulating him upon the coming event. Assured of receiving this reminder each year he can free his mind of at least one care, .and unfailingly provide for honouring the occasion in a fitting manner — that is if he can also remember whether the size is O.S. or S.O.S.