Written by: Therese Apel, Darkhorse Press
USA – February 16 may not come with fireworks or parades, but for anyone who has ever endured a neighbor’s scowl or a co-worker’s perpetual sigh, it offers something far more practical: National Do a Grouch a Favor Day.
Celebrated each year on Feb. 16, the unofficial holiday encourages people to perform a small act of kindness for the grumpiest person in their lives — a category that, if we are being honest, includes most of us at one time or another.
Grouch. Grump. Cross. Irritable. The personality type is so common it predates social media complaints and workplace Slack channels. Ancient Greek plays often featured a resident grump whose chief purpose was to grumble loudly enough for the audience’s amusement.
History has its share of famously prickly figures. Isaac Newton was said to hold grudges. Ludwig van Beethoven reportedly grew more irritable after losing his hearing. Even American presidents have had their less-than-sunny moments. And regular people? They have weathered the Great Depression, two World Wars and the financial crisis of 2008. A little grouchiness may be understandable.
National Do a Grouch a Favor Day arrives at a time when positivity is big business. Self-help books generate billions in sales. Mindfulness apps promise inner peace with the tap of a screen. Countries are ranked by “happiness indexes” that compete with gross domestic product. Even the U.S. Army has incorporated elements of positive psychology into training.
The origins of the day are unclear. It may have been invented by a secret optimist on a mission. Or perhaps it was the work of a grouch hoping someone would finally bring them coffee without being asked. There is also the possibility that Big Bird, weary of Oscar the Grouch’s complaints on “Sesame Street,” decided to take matters into his own feathered hands.
However it began, the premise is simple: Help a grumpy person experience the sweeter side of life. That could mean shoveling a driveway before the neighbor wakes up, bringing a favorite snack to a co-worker or resisting the urge to argue with the man at the train station who appears permanently offended by the concept of mornings.
Television has long embraced the grouch archetype. Oscar the Grouch of “Sesame Street” has made a career out of loving trash. Mike Franks on “NCIS” adds an angry but loveable mentor to the mix. Squidward Tentacles of “SpongeBob SquarePants” resents both his job and his pineapple-dwelling neighbor. Nick Miller of “New Girl” perfects the art of the sarcastic sigh behind a bar.
Yet audiences adore them all.
Perhaps that is the lesson of Feb. 16. The grouch in your life may not transform into a ray of sunshine after one good deed. But a small favor, whether it’s a coffee, a compliment, or a moment of patience, might soften the edges.
And if no grouch comes to mind, for me, there is always the mirror.
Happy Monday, friends!