# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/61 "2019-05-07T03:38:05Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Boy are they in for a surprise. I bet they’re going to feel like a right bunch of nitwits. I see what you did there. 😃 [https://youtu.be/uw8dW9Hyno0?t=160](https://youtu.be/uw8dW9Hyno0?t=160) ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/62 "2019-05-07T12:50:34Z")
> [@VOW](#): > > 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. Old joke: A guy dies and, to his surprise, winds up in heaven. An older hand is showing him where everything is but there’s this fifteen-foot wall right in the middle of everything. “What’s the wall for?” “Keep your voice down. It’s so the Baptists can think they’re the only ones up here.” > [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Growing up Mormon, they would give out carnations to the mothers in church, letting all the childless women feel like shit. At some point, they switched to all women 18 and older which still made a lot of women feel like shit. Not all, but a lot of churches in this country believe that women’s _only_ purpose on this earth is to [serve their husband and pop out babies](https://www.youtube.com/user/girldefined). ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/63 "2019-05-07T13:01:51Z")
> [@pool](#): > > 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. I won’t be doing this either. I don’t think it’s petty. She’s not MY mother. > [@panache45](#): > > And by the way, the same thing goes for Father’s Day Why would you wish every woman you see a happy Father’s Day? That’s just weird. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/64 "2019-05-07T13:12:33Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Not all, but a lot of churches in this country believe that women’s _only_ purpose on this earth is to [serve their husband and pop out babies](https://www.youtube.com/user/girldefined). 😕 I don’t understand why you think the video you linked to supports your assertion. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/65 "2019-05-07T13:22:03Z")
I don’t wish anyone a happy Mother’s Day unless I KNOW the person. Maybe the person had a child and lost it tragically. Maybe the person is involuntarily childless. Maybe person was raped and got pregnant. A little common sense goes a long way. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/66 "2019-05-07T13:37:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I hate all of those greeting card “holidays”, but MD seems particularly egregious. Yes, my mother insisted on not observing either Mothers’ OR Fathers’ Day. ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/67 "2019-05-07T18:37:11Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I generally respond to (inapplicable) Mother’s Day greetings with “Thanks, you too!” I don’t go around offering them to other people unsolicited, though. That’s generally how I respond, too. I am not a churchgoer, but I don’t see anything wrong with churches giving flowers to mothers on mother’s day. It’s acknowledging that being a mother is an important and difficult job that is often taken for granted, not an attempt to make women who are not mothers, for whatever reason, or whose mothers have died, feel bad. Thinking so is neurotically wrongheaded. The OP should not hang around in areas with a lot of people from the Caribbean, as the custom there is to address most adult women as “mama”, the way some cultures address them as “aunt” or “auntie”. Took me aback at first, but then I got used to it. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2019, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/68 "2019-05-07T18:54:16Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > 😕 I don’t understand why you think the video you linked to supports your assertion. Was that a specific video? I meant the entire channel. ---
**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 12, 2019, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/69 "2019-05-12T08:09:55Z")
Well, after all the venting in this thread yesterday, _a day early_, I got a cheery “Happy Mother’s Day” from a co-worker. I thanked her then gently explained that it’s not a happy day for someone with a dead mother, dead mother-in-law, no children, etc. Good _god_ can we find the person who thought it was a good idea to start a custom of wishing this to random strangers and beat them severely with a sock full of quarters? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2019, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/70 "2019-05-12T08:17:16Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > The OP should not hang around in areas with a lot of people from the Caribbean, as the custom there is to address most adult women as “mama”, the way some cultures address them as “aunt” or “auntie”. Took me aback at first, but then I got used to it. But it doesn’t mean they’re either your actual mother or your actual aunt, nor do people from those cultures with every woman known as Mama [Whatever] a Happy Mother’s Day. You’re mixing two completely different things. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2019, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/71 "2019-05-12T12:38:14Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Well, after all the venting in this thread yesterday, _a day early_, I got a cheery “Happy Mother’s Day” from a co-worker. I thanked her then gently explained that it’s not a happy day for someone with a dead mother, dead mother-in-law, no children, etc. What was ēs response? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/72 "2019-05-12T13:11:07Z")
> [@Tapiotar](#): > > I am not a churchgoer, but I don’t see anything wrong with churches giving flowers to mothers on mother’s day. It’s acknowledging that being a mother is an important and difficult job that is often taken for granted, not an attempt to make women who are not mothers, for whatever reason, or whose mothers have died, feel bad. Thinking so is neurotically wrongheaded. I’m sure it’s not the intent, but it may well be the effect. My own mother was made to make a card for mothers’ day every year at school, despite the fact that grandma walked out when my mother was a toddler, and they’d had no contact since. I’m sure the school was trying to do something nice for mothers, but there’s such a thing as _thinking_. ---
**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 12, 2019, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/73 "2019-05-12T15:29:14Z")
Wishing each and ever one of you a Happy Morgyn’s Parents Fifty-Seventh Anniversary Day! 🙂 See post 19. ---
**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 12, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/74 "2019-05-12T19:44:43Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Well, after all the venting in this thread yesterday, _a day early_, I got a cheery “Happy Mother’s Day” from a co-worker. I thanked her then gently explained that it’s not a happy day for someone with a dead mother, dead mother-in-law, no children, etc. > > Good _god_ can we find the person who thought it was a good idea to start a custom of wishing this to random strangers and beat them severely with a sock full of quarters? > [@Acsenray](#): > > What was ēs response? ''I’m sorry - I hadn’t considered any of that. Those are good points." (Guess being polite pays off, huh?) As it happens, I had almost no customer contact today - between the counterfeit money passed on one of the checkout lanes (the ink said it was a 100 but the watermark was Hamilton), the failure to leave notes on at least one customer refund, the cash office printer deciding to run out of ink, and probably a half dozen other things I ran longer than usual with the cash office. So glad I have the next three days off. > [@nelliebly](#): > > Wishing each and ever one of you a Happy Morgyn’s Parents Fifty-Seventh Anniversary Day! 🙂 And may they have many more anniversaries! ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/75 "2019-05-13T00:43:56Z")
My Mom died in 2004, so every Mother’s Day is an especially pointed reminder of my loss. So don’t expect me to get too overjoyed on Mother’s Day. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/76 "2019-05-13T00:49:55Z")
The mother of one of my students sent ME!! a Mother’s Day message yesterday! I think she must have been going down her list of contacts, it still WTF? I had to laugh. I was at my son’s soccer practice and showed it to the other parents. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Crap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.crap/32/3131_2.png) [@Dr.Crap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Crap)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/77 "2019-05-13T04:08:17Z")
I was orphaned during an otherwise good day so you can imagine my grief when anyone wishes that I have one. ---
**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 13, 2019, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/78 "2019-05-13T10:30:10Z")
Seriously? Your name is Dr. Crap and you’re taking a threadshit? ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/79 "2019-05-13T11:23:57Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > 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. The world doesn’t revolve around your pain. Or my pain. What if you’re at a restaurant and the staff announces Billy and Susie are celebrating twenty years of marriage and your partner of 25 years just recently died? Other people don’t stop being happy and they don’t stop expressing that just because you and I might be miserable. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467/80 "2019-05-13T12:09:18Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > The world doesn’t revolve around your pain. Or my pain. What if you’re at a restaurant and the staff announces Billy and Susie are celebrating twenty years of marriage and your partner of 25 years just recently died? Other people don’t stop being happy and they don’t stop expressing that just because you and I might be miserable. Apparently to a sizable percentage of the “Smartest, Hippest” here, you are a vile, unfeeling monster, heartlessly bigoted against widows, orphans and probably left-handed Norwegian tax accountants as well, and even quite possibly someone who thinks that a person who once accidentally sat thru 20 minutes of “I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry” on a flight to Reno and then turned it off and went to sleep instead of immediately storming the cockpit and forcing the pilots to make an emergency landing so they could report the broadcast as a Hate Crime just may have possibly overreacted. How do you look yourself in the mirror? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-dont-wish-every-woman-you-see-tomorrow-a-happy-mothers-day/833467.md?page=5)