THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 11, 1994 TAG: 9406110357
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
DATELINE: 940611 LENGTH: Medium
Oh, if you're one who celebrates it joyfully, finds fun in making it a great occasion, and your father can stand it, go ahead, with my blessing.
{REST} But I'd sooner we forget it.
After all, Father's Day is an afterthought.
Three thousand years after the creation of Mother's Day, somebody, probably some doting daughter or daughter-in-law, exclaimed, ``Hey, what about Father? Why not a day for him?''
Because he doesn't want it.
He knows that as an icon he can't possibly measure up to Mother.
It's a strain on him, going around all day on Father's Day trying to be and look better than he is.
It's like asking an old shoe to be a dancing pump.
The only favorable thing about Father's Day is that it helps the economy.
Other than that, it's an embarrassment.
Mothers deserved a day.
When Mother's Day originated, it was practically the only time a great many people ever gave much more than a passing thought to mothers' day-to-day existence, or the lot of women in general.
Mothers acted the way a former Virginia governor said school teachers should perform.
A reporter, noting that teachers were making only $800 a year, asked whether they deserved a raise.
``Dammit!'' the governor said, banging his fist on his desk, ``School teachers ought to be DEDICATED!''
As they are.
For years the world's attitude toward women, especially mothers, was expressed in the saying: ``Man works from sun to sun, woman's work is never done.''
There, that did it. They'd had a tribute, now move on.
Oh, there was a song with the fellow crooning, ``I want a girl just like the girl that married dear old dad. . . .''
But Mother's Day was an overt expression of affection.
So, in about the fifth grade, you asked your father for a half-dollar. He handed it to you, without question, and you went to the corner drugstore and bought a box of candy, which the druggist wrapped. You scrawled a message in crayon on the brown paper.
And, saying ``Here!,'' you handed it to your mother in the kitchen. She glanced at your father, and as he cleared his throat, she swooped to hug you.
On Mother's Day, people wore red or white roses in their lapels, signifying whether their mother was alive or dead.
I touched on the Father's Day topic not long ago.
What moves me to it again was a fax from the National Coalition of Free Men.
``This Father's Day, we'd suggest you consider taking a close look at the quality of men's lives through the eyes of feminists. For once, give US a chance to tell our side.''
That would politicize Father's Day. Which should be resisted.
So if you feel you must, take your father to dinner.
But let him pick up the check.
by CNB