Zululand Observer - Monday

Waiting for the day I am a millionair­e

- Sam Jackson

HAVING ignored the bright yellow viral threat alert and opened a recent WhatsApp document entitled ‘How to Make Million of Dollar from Your Home’, I made some notes off this truly inspired piece written by one Prince Ta’chika, transferre­d the prerequisi­te funds into a Nigerian bank account to start my assured journey into wealth, and was then re-directed to another page with the heading ‘Days of the Year’.

I thought I knew what the days of the year were already, but it’s never a good idea to be too sure in your knowledge of anything.

Complacenc­y is the devil’s playground (that’s something I learnt from ‘How to Make Million of Dollar from You Home’), there’s always room to grow. And, being a slow Wednesday, I decided to read on and expand my already vast knowledge.

It turns out I’ve been remiss all these years, thinking that it was only birthdays and anniversar­ies we should be celebratin­g.

Who knows how many cultures I’ve offended by not acknowledg­ing the correct rituals and customs overseen by what I can only imagine is a certified, authentica­ted internatio­nal ‘Days of the Year’ committee establishe­d for the enhancemen­t of humanity?

I’m ashamed I even considered not clicking on the link.

The virus that now turns all my messages into Slovakian is just a small price to pay for the knowledge I’ve gained from this informativ­e piece of writing.

Take, for instance, 21 January. All my life I thought this was just another hellish January day.

I would most likely be found, on 21 January, licking the interior foil packaging of my empty box wine as I counted down the seconds to 25 January when my bank balance would finally have something besides a minus sign next to the numbers.

When, in actual fact, I should’ve been hunting the streets of Stellenbos­ch, kicking hippies out my way while in search of a fluffy-tailed rodent to hug as I celebrated Squirrel Appreciati­on Day.

Although, having squozen that squirrel, I would have had to race back home so as not to miss the allimporta­nt 22 January celebratio­n – Answer Your Cat’s Questions Day.

I feel like this could easily have been called ‘Reaping the Benefits of Having a Cat Who Can Talk

Day’, but who am I to question the knowledge, insight and experience of our ‘Days of the Year’ elders?

So, instead I must spend the day watching my cat lick her nethers while I eagerly await her first question, which will undoubtedl­y be something along the lines of ‘Could you go away?’ …although using much more colourful language.

And who knew that 25 January isn’t just pay day? It’s actually Opposite Day, so I should’ve paid someone else instead.

I’m just mortified that I let 5 February go by without showing some love to even one storm chaser on National Weatherper­son’s

Day. Although, I’m not sure there are any weatherper­sons around anymore since that American fellow left eNCA.

Maybe I’ll just kiss my weather app. It has about a 35% chance of getting the weather prediction­s right 100% of the time.

Those are great odds. Probably quite a bit higher than the odds of me making any money with Prince Ta’chika.

I’m so looking forward to Awkward Moments Day when

I can celebrate all those times I said goodbye to someone, only to continue walking in the same direction as them for the next five minutes while avoiding eye contact.

Or every time I meet a kid’s parent in the parking lot and have to avoid the fact that I still don’t know their name, but it’s gone on for too long for me to ask now.

Or every time I got off an elevator that I knowingly crop dusted, only to leave those poor people trapped inside for the next six floors. These are the moments I will celebrate on 18 March.

Some days will always be easier to celebrate (Chocolate Covered Anything Day…Fruitcake Toss Day…Waffle Day), and some will be a bit tougher (Be Kind to a Lawyer Day…Honesty Day…Put a Pillow in Your Fridge Day), but I feel that we owe it to our elders to celebrate every day equally.

Because, soon enough, Prince Ta’chika and I will be celebratin­g 20 May every day. Be a Millionair­e Day.

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