# Getting it in under the wire: May 25th is Towel Day: Don't Worry. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 26, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118 "2004-05-26T03:13:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118/1 "2004-05-26T03:13:24Z")
If we can have Talk Like A Pirate Day on September 19th, clearly, May 25th, the anniversary date of Doug Adams death needs to be commerated. [Towel Day](http://towelday.org/) > [@](#): > > \*\*What do I do? \*\* > Carry your towel with you throughout the day to show your participation and mourning. > > \*\*When do I do it? \*\* > May 25th, 2004 > > \*\*Where do I do it? \*\* > Everywhere. > > \*\*Why a towel? \*\* > To quote from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, > \*A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine soredly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you - daft as a brush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough. > > More importantly, a towel has immense psychological value. For some reason, if a strag (strag: non-hitch hiker) discovers that a hitchhiker has his towel with him, he will automatically assume that he is also in possession of a toothbrush, face flannel, soap, tin of biscuits, flask, compass, map, ball of string, gnat spray, wet weather gear, space suit etc., etc. Furthermore, the strag will then happily lend the hitchhiker any of these or a dozen other items that the hitchhiker might accidentally have “lost”. What the strag will think is that any man who can hitch the length and breadth of the galaxy, rough it, slum it, struggle against terrible odds, win through, and still knows where his towel is is clearly a man to be reckoned with. \* RIP Doug Adams, you are missed. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_Kate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/aca169/32.png) [@Lady\_Kate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Kate)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118/2 "2004-05-26T03:18:04Z")
Darn the luck, my day is pretty much over and it’s too late to do the towel thing. I do believe that I will dig out my old Hitchhiker’s Guide as soon as I get home, though. Thank you for the reminder. RIP Doug, nobody writes 'em like you anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118/3 "2004-05-26T03:58:54Z")
I know, I found out about this too late in the day to wear my towel in a fashionable manner about town. ---
**Author:** ![Kallessa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7993a0/32.png) [@Kallessa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kallessa)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118/4 "2004-05-26T04:24:45Z")
Ah, the great and glorious Douglas Adams. _Hitchhiker_ charmed me, but _Dirk Gently_ made me his for life. Well, I guess someone has to say it, So long, and thanks for all the fish. ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118/5 "2004-05-26T04:47:08Z")
Blast! 44 minutes too late! Semi-relevant quote: “I love deadlines. I especially like the whooshing sound they make as they go flying by” although, this is a deadline I would like to have met… ---
**Author:** ![Beauty\_Personified](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@Beauty\_Personified](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beauty_Personified)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118/6 "2004-05-26T05:30:21Z")
Does anybody know of a comprehensive website out there which lists “event days” from around the world, from national holidays to obscure novelties? Anyhoo… ---
**Author:** ![Call\_me\_Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Call\_me\_Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Call_me_Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118/7 "2004-05-26T05:40:45Z")
> [@Beauty Personified](#): > > Does anybody know of a comprehensive website out there which lists “event days” from around the world, from national holidays to obscure novelties? eCard sites often have a list of holidays for which they have cards, for example: [Yahoo! Greeting cards](http://www.yahoo.americangreetings.com/category.pd?path=40892) has such a list. ---
**Author:** ![harmless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@harmless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmless)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2004, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-it-in-under-the-wire-may-25th-is-towel-day-dont-worry/247118/8 "2004-05-26T15:11:59Z")
Look, people. Towel Day is to raise awareness to the diverse usefulness of our friend the Towel, but it’s not a once-a-year thing. You must carry your towel with you everyday! To be caught without your towel is akin to being caught without your life-saving pants. As the Guide states: > [@](#): > > A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value - you can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapours; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine soredly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a mini raft down the slow heavy river Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or to avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (a mindboggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you - daft as a brush, but very ravenous); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough. You can also soak them in nutrients (like bbq sauce) in case you’re stranded without food; they can be used for snaring birds whilst falling from a three-mile high marble statue; they can be used to signal temporally unstable spaceships by fossilizing them in planetary strata; they can also do a really good job of drying between your toes. In extreme circumstances, a large dishcloth might be substituted. So, while it’s nice to “celebrate” Towel Day, remember; when you’re hitchhiking your way across the galaxy, your towel is your best (and sometimes you’re only trustworthy) friend, my hoopy froods. 😛 It is worth noting that a cup of white vinegar in a wash will help keep your towels fluffy and soft. RRI, Mr. Adams