OBSERVANCE OBSERVATIONS
[May 2024 Vol 39]
A colleague told us recently that May is National Short Story Month in the US. Most of the world also celebrated May 1 as Labour Day or ‘May Day’. Did you know that Labour Day has its origins in the Haymarket Massacre in Chicago that took place in May 1886 in Chicago? Curiously, the US does not celebrate May Day at all – they have to be different in all things, after all, and celebrate Labor Day (without the U) on the first Monday of September instead.
Pic: Our contribution to International Joke Day (1 July, Origin: US author Wayne Reinagel, to promote his books on jokes)
These modern observance days are of prime importance for social media analysts in our team – as they plan out monthly content calendars for clients, they must consider the market segments and geos that client companies focus on, and integrate relevant ‘days’ into the calendar. A simple Google search will yield heavily US-specific content and will just not do.
The ramifications of one country’s observance day being just another day in another are quite significant in these days of globalisation – when cross-geo teams have to explain their local day off to remote managers, it could initially be an interesting tidbit, but an irritant to incorporate when planning project deadlines.
I suppose the entire world agrees only on a few religious observances and New Year’s Day. Even those are disputable – Christmas in Russia is on 7th January, and in India, with our multiple calendars, New Year actually rolls around March or April for different communities.
Savvy marketers, of course, make hay of all these confusion. They entice customers across the world to buy, buy and buy more on Mother’s Day (origin: US), Father’s Day (origin: US), Grandparents Day (origin: US), Valentine’s Day (origin: the 270 CE martyrdom of St Valentine in Rome, and that of many modern-day forgetful spouses) and so on. It’s hilarious to see Black Friday sale advertisements in Indian media (origin: the Friday after Thanksgiving in the US when Christmas shopping starts).
My take? Let’s forget all the origins, and pick a few observances relevant for our group and celebrate! As storytellers, we fully intend to celebrate May as Short Story Month. Do head to our social channels this month for stories of short stories.
FIGURES THAT MAKE US HUMAN
As we witness the ongoing March of the Machines, accompanied by cooling off in labour markets in many economies, writers, thinkers and analysts have been indulging in efforts to understand what makes us human and separates us from machines. We think it may actually boil down to a few figures.. of speech!
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The job markets are cooling for some, but booming for others. The Indian economy is striking up some merry tunes as it searches for employable young workers across healthcare, communications, logistics, infrastructure, transportation and a host of other sectors. It all starts with a resume. How ready is your resume? Catch Smartees Club’s upcoming webinar on "Get Ready For Interviews! Build Your Resume and Land Your Dream Job" to get the next step right. Make the giant leap in your career!
Do forward this information to others in your network looking to polish their resumes.
“A short story is the shortest distance between two points. A novel is the scenic route”.
— Robert J Sawyer
Till the next time, adios!
-Padmaja Narsipur
Writer