As I was out today at lunch, I passed by Old Navy, where a sign in the window read "Old Navy Classic Tees $5" Right underneath this it said "Father's Day is June 19th." Are they trying to tell me that an appropriate gift for my Dad would be a $5 tee shirt? Of course, gifts should not be all about money. Working at a nonprofit and trying to pay off student loans and other debts, I certainly try to pick thoughtful presents that are reasonably priced, but a $5 tee shirt-come'on. What message are we sending to Dads?
In a related note, a friend of mine works at The Picture People, one of those stores where you can take your kids/partner/self/family to get photos taken and made into prints. He told me that Father's Day is much busier than Mother's Day because Moms are more thoughtful (than dads are) about taking photos of the kids as a gift and remembering the day.
This along with the insane frenzy I vaguely recall working at Hallmark on Mother's Day in 1997 makes me realize that not only do we value mothers more (they get more cards and would never be offered a $5 Old Navy promotion), but the only people who do go all out for Father's Day are in fact, mothers. Maybe that's why we think they are so great.
Summary: Mothers are good. Dads are ok too; Mom told me so.
Personal Commentary: For the record, I am not going to publicly pick favorites between my own parents. Supportive parents that they are, I think they read this.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment