# Idiot wishing a happy Memorial Day **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 27, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502 "2011-05-27T23:27:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pabstist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e99b99/32.png) [@pabstist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pabstist)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/1 "2011-05-27T23:27:34Z")
At the grocery store today, an acquaintance of my wife told her to “Have a happy Memorial Day! Bye now!” Seriously? Do we have to make every holiday happy, especially one that is meant to remember military members who have died in battle? How can you even do that? “Have a nice three day weekend” I can accept, sure it’s the start of summer and all. I guess I’ll have a happy Memorial Day while visiting my parents’ graves at the Veterans Cemetery. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/2 "2011-05-27T23:36:12Z")
Perhaps not the lamest pitting ever, but the lamest I’ve ever personally encountered. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/3 "2011-05-27T23:38:43Z")
> [@pabstist](#): > > At the grocery store today, an acquaintance of my wife told her to “Have a happy Memorial Day! Bye now!” > > Seriously? Do we have to make every holiday happy, especially one that is meant to remember military members who have died in battle? How can you even do that? “Have a nice three day weekend” I can accept, sure it’s the start of summer and all. > > I guess I’ll have a happy Memorial Day while visiting my parents’ graves at the Veterans Cemetery. Telling people to have a happy Memorial Day isn’t what makes it a happy holiday. The fact that 99% of Americans mark the holiday by having a fun picnic and kick off the summer is what makes it a happy holiday. It’s nice you spend the day remembering your parents but you’re an extremely small minority. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/4 "2011-05-28T03:37:37Z")
I’ll agree with the OP. Memorial Day is not a celebratory holiday. It’s meant to remember those who have died to defend our country. It’s meant to be serious and somber. It’s turned into a three day weekend that includes the Indianapolis 500, picnics, and so on, but that doesn’t make it a celebratory holiday like Thanksgiving or New Year. Wishing someone a “Happy Memorial Day” is about as inane a wish as I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/5 "2011-05-28T03:59:34Z")
Certainly, the best way to pay respect to somebody’s memory is to get all depressed and serious. Celebrating their life and making their remembrance joyous is totally lame. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/6 "2011-05-28T04:08:42Z")
> [@Tarwater](#): > > Certainly, the best way to pay respect to somebody’s memory is to get all depressed and serious. Celebrating their life and making their remembrance joyous is totally lame. Do you wish people a “Happy Memorial Day”? ---
**Author:** ![Tarwater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9de0a6/32.png) [@Tarwater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarwater)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/7 "2011-05-28T04:32:13Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Do you wish people a “Happy Memorial Day”? Happy. Great. Good. Nice. I use them interchangeably. And I’ve never once been given a reproachful glance because of it. Mostly, I imagine, because the people with whom I share my holidays choose to honor their friends and family and the American military by celebrating. I did a brief survey, actually. While I was typing this response, I asked a couple of my friends if they’d react strangely to somebody wishing them a " happy Memorial Day," and none of them would, unsurprisingly. I think it’s because their hearts are large enough to hold, simultaneously, both solemnity and gratitude, the latter which, I think, is expressed more appropriately through celebration. They can pay their respects without reveling in the gloomy. Maybe from this point forward I’ll start wishing everybody a “serious and somber Memorial Day.” ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/8 "2011-05-28T04:37:19Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Wishing someone a “Happy Memorial Day” is about as inane a wish as I can think of. Happy Memorial Day, Frank. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/9 "2011-05-28T05:09:09Z")
This is the single most innocuous subject of a pitting that I’ve ever encountered. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/10 "2011-05-28T06:23:58Z")
Most people get the whole day off from work. Do you really spend the whole day moping around the cemetery? We usually go to the town ceremony for the war dead, which takes maybe an hour, and then go have fun on the beach. I’m sure most deceased military personal would appreciate the gesture of going to the ceremony, and not hold having a “happy” time at the beach against us. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/11 "2011-05-28T06:37:22Z")
Assuming an atheist viewpoint in regards the afterlife, the dead don’t care. Assuming a religious viewpoint, they’re either busy contemplating the ineffable majesty of Divine Love or burning in torment, either way they still don’t care. Memorials are for the living. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/12 "2011-05-28T07:23:51Z")
YES IT’S A THREE DAY WEEKEND GOD I NEEDED THIS sorry, what were you saying about remembering something or other? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 8:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/13 "2011-05-28T08:10:09Z")
Hah. I just sent a text saying, “Happy M. Day. Thanks for fighting for my freedoms ;)” to a friend. I love the holiday, actually. I give due diligence to military members…and my best recipes. It’s a celebration of Americana. July 4th is about ideology and Memorial Day is about defending it, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/14 "2011-05-28T12:08:07Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’ll agree with the OP. Memorial Day is not a celebratory holiday. It’s meant to remember those who have died to defend our country. It’s meant to be serious and somber. > > It’s turned into a three day weekend that includes the Indianapolis 500, picnics, and so on, but that doesn’t make it a celebratory holiday like Thanksgiving or New Year. > > Wishing someone a “Happy Memorial Day” is about as inane a wish as I can think of. Nobody gives a shit. Shut the fuck up, pass me a hot dog, and stop being such a bitch. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/15 "2011-05-28T12:54:58Z")
What a bunch of killjoys. I suppose next you’ll be telling me that **VT** ’s Rockin’ 9/11 Bonfire Bacchanalia is in “poor taste”? ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/16 "2011-05-28T12:57:55Z")
Someone is trying to be pleasant to you and you question their intelligence and call them names. You’ve got to love the curmudgeons of the world, spreading their little ray of self-righteous sunshine wherever they go. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/17 "2011-05-28T13:15:14Z")
The OP is quite right. The greeting should be “Have a depressing Memorial Day”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/18 "2011-05-28T13:39:53Z")
My greeting is always “have a safe Memorial Day Weekend,” for this starts the beginning of the season of increased MVAs, accidental drownings, fingers being blown off by fireworks, and the occasional Jart through the skull. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/19 "2011-05-28T13:42:57Z")
Jarts rule. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2011, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502/20 "2011-05-28T14:00:09Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I’ll agree with the OP. Memorial Day is not a celebratory holiday. It’s meant to remember those who have died to defend our country. It’s meant to be serious and somber. And nothing says ‘serious and somber’ like a GIANT MATTRESS SALE EXTRAVAGANZA!!! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/idiot-wishing-a-happy-memorial-day/583502.md?page=2)