Today’s officially referred to as Washington’s Birthday by the U.S. Federal Government, and the traditional date is February 22nd. But in 1971, in an attempt to provide more three-day holidays to the proles, they signed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act into law, moved the holiday to the third Monday in February, and expanded it to include anyone who’s occupied the Oval Office, whether that person was among the greats like ol’ Wooden Teeth and Honest Abe, or the not-so-greats, like Warren G. Harding or Bush the Lesser. How this change is viewed — as a way of honoring the office and not just a single mortal who held the position, or another example of the “everyone gets a trophy” culture — is left as an exercise for the reader.
It’s also Canadian Flag Day, a day during which we Canadians celebrate a flag that many vexillologists give an “A” grade and when sewn on your backpack announces to the world that you are not an asshole. I still have the hat pictured in the photo above, and it’s still imbued with Steve Ballmer’s crystallized sweat. Microsoft fans, I start the bidding at $10,000 (real U.S. Dollars, and not Canadian Snow Pesos, of course). Do I have an offer?
To both countries I call home, I leave with this final thought:
