Longevity logo

Consider a COVID-19 Holiday

Would we fast or feast on Vaxxing Day?

By Lisa SuhayPublished 4 years ago 4 min read
1
An Austrian company is selling toilet paper snow globes so why not a new holiday too?

I think that one result of the entire planet sharing a traumatic experience in the form of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic could be an annual holiday to mark the experience. The mind reel at the possiblities.

Starbucks could have a Limited Editon Secret Menu Green Vaxxuccino that - due to shortages - would be limited to one per customer.

If gamers and cosplayers take the lead we may have COVID-Con with everyone dressing as their favorite lock-down hero/essential worker. While we learned that not all heroes wear capes, masks would be mandatory.

In keeping with the nature of the ever-changable lock-downs this holiday could well morph into months of festivities like a Coronella music festival or Burning Month with sculptures made from toilet paper, pink slips, and pizza boxes going up in flames.

The Brits will surely want to call it Vaxxing Day, which will lead to Anti-Vaxxing day here in the States.

The idea of a holiday came to mind as I thought about how the world has passed through Passover, Easter, and now Ramadan in lock-down.

It made me wonder how a new holiday might be structured and of course, what it would be called.

I thought the easy part would be coming up with a name. Not true.

If it’s just named after a date, like Cinco de Mayo then we have to try and nail that down. Since the lock-downs will all end on different dates it will probably make sense to hold it on the date of the first case in China.

Hmm, according to the World Health Organization’s website, on December 31, 2019, Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, China, reported a “cluster of pneumonia cases” in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A novel coronavirus was eventually identified.

Well, that’s not going to work because it’s just too close to Christmas and Hanukkah.

What’s next on the timeline?

On January 1, 2020, the WHO set up the IMST (Incident Management Support Team) for the outbreak.

Hmmm. Nope. Can’t do New Year’s Day.

On January 5, 2020, WHO published its “First Disease Outbreak News” on the new virus.

That could work. Let’s all pencil that in?

Oh, but that gives us Cinco de Enero. Too derivative, so maybe we roll with a name.

All joking aside for a moment, there is a strong sense of needing a somber reminder characterized by fasting, giving, remembrance and self-sacrifice.

Perhaps we need the funny in order to cope with the pain and loss before we can commemorate the enormity of what has been lost.

Somewhere there may be a New Normal's Eve when all will gather their loved ones and remember all that was lost.

In memory we would painting our faces with the warrior stripes of the healthcare professional who suffered wearing masks.

I believe we might need a month-long event that encompasses the gravity and grief, but also lets us celebrate life.

Also, with all the lingering cases of PTZD (Post-Traumatic Zoom Disorder) we may sill need the comic relief embodied in a unique central patron character.

Since most major holidays revolve around a male savior/prophet/elf/rabbit I am pushing for a female lead.

Behold Vaccinea - unapologetically braless, probably in pajama pants (if she's wearing pants at all) with her hair living its own best life.

Lizzo is already rocking the Vaccinea look.

She will distribute laptops to public school children and have a tray of home-baked bread.

(I toyed with naming her Covidia but that sounds too much like something you caught as soon as you were out of lock-down and back on dating apps.)

Now, do we make this a holiday about self-isolation in order to remember the bad times or shaking hands and touching the faces of strangers to celebrate our ultimate release from craptivity?

That’s not a typo. Craptivity is the appropriate descriptor many will use in remembrance of these times.

Some of us will forever plant victory gardens in homage to these times in which farmers plowed under potatoes and slaughtered laying hens by the millions.

Maybe we will place baskets on our front steps where people can leave us decorated potatoes or paint eggs a sickly green with spots and leave them in the yard as a sort of reverse Easter egg non-hunt.

The eggs will all be placed 6-feet apart in the yard to commemorate the virus and nobody will touch them for months and it will really stink.

It could be a feast of plenty after the shortages, in which case we could call it TP Day where we wantonly waste the resource by stringing it through all the trees.

In the end, I decided to go simple and classic with a day to celebrate the ability and willingness to get close to people again after so much social distancing.

I give you Hugmas Day. Feel free to celebrate it with your own mash-up of any of the ideas presented here, just so long as the main day is all about the hugs and holding on tight to those we didn’t lose.

humor
1

About the Creator

Lisa Suhay

Journalist, Fairy Tree Founder, Op-Ed and children’s book author who has written for the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, NPR and The Virginian-Pilot. TEDx presenter on chess. YouTube Storytime Video playlist

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.