# Please don't wish every woman you see tomorrow a happy Mother's Day **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 4, 2019, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467 "2019-05-04T13:01:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/21 "2019-05-04T19:26:47Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I have no children, about which I’m not horribly upset, but still. My mother’s dead. She’s been dead a while and it’s not as bad as it was the first year, but still. > > Yeah. Wish ‘happy mother’s day’ to your mother, and your mother-in-law, presuming they’re alive and you’re on speaking terms; and if you want to those of your relatives/friends who you know are mothers. Don’t just wish it to random women on the street, or on the checkout line. Yes. And _especially_ do not wish it to the cashier. Please. I am not a mother. My mother is dead. My mother-in-law is dead. I don’t mind the occasional remark but _ **eight fucking hours** _ of hearing it and I just might get a little stabby. And no, I’m not going to put on a big smile like I’ve been given a gift - all you’re doing is reminding me of loss. And especially don’t wish it to my-sister-who-doesn’t-speak-to-me - both her children are dead. Yeah, mother’s day is a real motherf----- for her. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/22 "2019-05-04T19:28:31Z")
This happens in some places where women are invited to stand if they are mothers, “please stand and be applauded and we’ll distribute gifts.” And if you had a miscarriage recently, sorry, oops. ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/23 "2019-05-04T19:34:07Z")
Guess that shows just how overdone the advertising is. GET YOUR MOTHER’S DAY GIFT RIGHT NOW! YOU DON’T HAVE ANY MORE TIME!!! Thanks for the replies. I’m glad people get it. ---
**Author:** ![Biffster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biffster/32/339_2.png) [@Biffster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffster)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/24 "2019-05-04T19:34:40Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > In the UK it is in March. I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/25 "2019-05-04T20:15:44Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Close. Religious Radicals. It’s what my sister the lesbian calls people who are totally “rah-rah” about their religion cause it’s the only true, totally always right one and everyone who doesn’t believe what they believe, including the idea that their beliefs are actually, totally true facts, is going to hell. Boy are they in for a surprise. I bet they’re going to feel like a right bunch of nitwits. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/26 "2019-05-04T20:26:07Z")
Worked at Home Depot as a cashier for a couple months. One day the PA system announced will all Home Depot staff who are mothers report to the break room. For a shitty flower. But for the rest of us, huh? Not a mother, never wanted to be a mother, obviously now to old to have kids. What should I say when someone says happy mothers day. No thanks, I hate kids?? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/27 "2019-05-04T20:30:19Z")
How about, “I’ll pass along your good wishes”. “I hate kids”, works too. Even if you _are_ a mother. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/28 "2019-05-04T20:38:01Z")
Who wishes Happy Mother’s Day to women anyway? Is this even a thing? I reserve such wishes for my own mother, it would be quite inappropriate to express them to anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/29 "2019-05-04T20:53:28Z")
People do that? The person you’re supposed to say it to is your mother, and maybe other maternal family members, or even friends who are like mothers to me. MAYBE I might say it to a friend who is a new mother as a way of congratulating them, or someone I know is really into Mother’s Day. But why in the world would I say it to a stranger? It wouldn’t even occur to me. I don’t know you. And it’s not like I live in one of those places where talking to strangers in general is rude. Arkansas may be the Upper South, but we definitely do the traditional small talk with strangers. Don’t get me wrong. I totally get why you wouldn’t want people to say it. I’m just saying it never would have occurred to me to do so, even without considering how it might make someone feel bad. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/30 "2019-05-04T21:21:43Z")
It ain’t tomorrow. LOL MAY 12 ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/31 "2019-05-04T21:32:24Z")
Well, I intend to wish everyone, “Happy Morgyn’s Parents’ 57th Wedding Anniversary!”\* 🙂 I’m sure I’ll get blank stares because, you know, _they’re_ not Morgyn’s parents, so why should they care? It’s the same for Mother’s Day. Why assume that Mothers Day is relevant to every woman? I am a mother, but I’m not _your_ mother. And for all you know, I might have been a crappy mother who beat my kids senseless and starved them. Would you wish a Happy Mother’s Day to poor Andrea Yates? I love my kids but hate Mother’s Day. I tell my kids not to send me anything, as (Cheesy Alert!) they’re my gifts, and I mean it. But thy feel a need to express their appreciation on that day (and others), so of course I let them. But I hate the phoniness of restaurants and stores wishing every woman a Happy Mothers Day. And I hate knowing they’re doing it as a PR ploy. \*Not knocking your parents’ anniversary. My parents’ anniversary would have been today. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/32 "2019-05-04T21:49:37Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Who wishes Happy Mother’s Day to women anyway? Is this even a thing? > [@BigT](#): > > People do that? Hell, yes! I suspect the set of people wishing complete strangers a Happy Mother’s Day overlaps significantly with the set telling people to “Have a Blessed Day” and another set insisting on Merry Christmas over Happy Holidays even if the person they’re talking to isn’t Christian and doesn’t celebrate the birth of the Anointed One, but I admit I have not done any actual research and it’s just a wild ass guess at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2019, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/33 "2019-05-04T22:56:41Z")
> [@nelliebly](#): > > \*Not knocking your parents’ anniversary. My parents’ anniversary would have been today. No worries. I only mentioned it because, hey, it is their anniversary, and it’s always fun (for me) when it happens on the same day. Plus, 57 years is a goodly long time, especially considering they married late. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/34 "2019-05-05T00:56:07Z")
My own mother is dead, and my MIL is Muslim, and believes that to celebrate motherhood one day, and not the entire year, is wrong. So my husband and I will toast our mothers and leave it go at that. ---
**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 5, 2019, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/35 "2019-05-05T03:03:31Z")
If you wait an extra day, you can wish me happy birthday. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/36 "2019-05-05T04:06:30Z")
I worked a couple of Mother’s Days at the grocery store pharmacy, and rang up more flowers than I did prescriptions because they were right next to us in the store. More than once, I was wished “Happy Mother’s Day” after which I replied that I didn’t have any children, and the response was, “Good. Stay that way.” ☹ Yet another reason to keep your mouth shut around strangers. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/37 "2019-05-05T04:26:19Z")
Hell I won’t even be wishing a happy Mother’s Day to my ex wife, the mother of my two children, yes I know I’m a petty asshole. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/38 "2019-05-05T04:39:37Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Boy are they in for a surprise. I bet they’re going to feel like a right bunch of nitwits. My mother, who has been gone for 20 years now, had the perfect answer for the Fundamentalists. She said, “Those people are gonna just SHIT when they get to Heaven and find out Jesus is Black!” My momma still makes me smile. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/39 "2019-05-05T05:52:54Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > The only two people I wish Happy Mothers Day for are my wife, who is a mother,… Which makes you a MotherFu… Ah, nevermind. Happy Day anyway! ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2019, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/40 "2019-05-05T06:54:33Z")
And by the way, the same thing goes for Father’s Day. (Though my husband, being 20 years my junior, gives me a FD card every year.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467.md?page=3)