Global Holidays and Celebrations

[Noah O.]

Heck, we do Columbus day, and he wasn't even first. 'sides, Vikings are much cooler than dubiously Italian Spanish guys that name their ships after chip brands. Who's with me?

[Noah O.]

By this I mean that we should replace Columbus Day with Leif Erikson day, instead of just slapping it on in the middle of October.

[Eich]

Depends, do we get Columbus day off, and when is Columbus day?
October does need a day for people to get out of school and work...

[StellersJayC]

Depends, do we get Columbus day off, and when is Columbus day?
October does need a day for people to get out of school and work...

I think most of the United States gets Columbus Day off. In my state we don't. (I don't think it was ever a recognized holiday here.) But then again, I don't live in most of the United States and can't say for sure.

[Eich]

I think most of the United States gets Columbus Day off. In my state we don't. (I don't think it was ever a recognized holiday here.) But then again, I don't live in most of the United States and can't say for sure.

You don't live in most of the US.  That sounded like some kind of existential crisis in my head when I read that.

[Silenter]

I think most of the United States gets Columbus Day off. In my state we don't. (I don't think it was ever a recognized holiday here.) But then again, I don't live in most of the United States and can't say for sure.

I forgot which states, but there are states that do not celebrate it. But over in NY, we still do.

[Raya]

I'm pretty sure America was discovered before Columbus and Leif Eriksson. Y'know, on account of all the people who were already living there for millennia beforehand.

Also St Brendan could have very well been the first European to set foot in America...

[Noah O.]

I'm pretty sure America was discovered before Columbus and Leif Eriksson. Y'know, on account of all the people who were already living there for millennia beforehand.

Also St Brendan could have very well been the first European to set foot in America...

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that Nameless Siberian Tribesman Day wouldn't really catch on that well.

[Sunflower]

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that Nameless Siberian Tribesman Day wouldn't really catch on that well.

I used to live in ultra-PC Berkeley, which observes Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day. 
Hawaii, where I lived as a child, celebrates Discoverers' Day, adding the brave Polynesian navigators who discovered Hawaii c. 1200 AD to the list.

[Noah O.]

I used to live in ultra-PC Berkeley, which observes Indigenous Peoples' Day instead of Columbus Day. 
Hawaii, where I lived as a child, celebrates Discoverers' Day, adding the brave Polynesian navigators who discovered Hawaii c. 1200 AD to the list.

Unfortunately the rest of America will stick with Columbus Day, not in the least because of them Right-Wingers cough cough Tea Party cough

[Sunflower]

Unfortunately the rest of America will stick with Columbus Day, not in the least because of them Right-Wingers cough cough Tea Party cough

Um... as a voter I happen to agree with you re: the Tea Party.  But I think non-story-relevant political comments like that aren't in the best interest of forum harmony.  We have a wonderfully diverse readership here, and I believe we need to respect their various perspectives. 

Or at least, not *gratuitously* introduce political division.

I'm not trying to censor you -- the First Amendment applies here as elsewhere in the U.S.  I'm just suggesting that there are lots and lots of other places where you can find either fervent agreement or a fight re: the Tea Party.  For what it's worth, I never find Internet political arguments convincing, except to make me dislike the arguers.  "Bad lines are being drawn.  Nobody's right, if everybody's wrong."  *

So would you be a dear of a gentleman and take that topic elsewhere?  You and anyone else who was about to jump in with both feet, too. 
* Yeah, yeah.  I now realize I've always misheard "battle lines" as "bad lines"...

[Noah O.]

Um... as a voter I happen to agree with you re: the Tea Party.  But I think non-story-relevant political comments like that aren't in the best interest of forum harmony.  We have a wonderfully diverse readership here, and I believe we need to respect their various perspectives. 

Or at least, not *gratuitously* introduce political division.

I'm not trying to censor you -- the First Amendment applies here as elsewhere in the U.S.  I'm just suggesting that there are lots and lots of other places where you can find either fervent agreement or a fight re: the Tea Party.  For what it's worth, I never find Internet political arguments convincing, except to make me dislike the arguers.  "Bad lines are being drawn.  Nobody's right, if everybody's wrong."  *

So would you be a dear of a gentleman and take that topic elsewhere?  You and anyone else who was about to jump in with both feet, too. 
* Yeah, yeah.  I now realize I've always misheard "battle lines" as "bad lines"...

Oh come on! It's no fun if you don't take sides! You have to be loud, abrasive, callous, and disparaging! That's the fun of it!

[Sunflower]

Oh come on! It's no fun if you don't take sides! You have to be loud, abrasive, callous, and disparaging! That's the fun of it!

Well, if that's your idea of fun, OK...   ???
Actually, I didn't think your one off-topic comment was that far out of line -- I was more worried that someone with a chip on his/her/its shoulder was going to mosey on over to you and turn our nice salon into a barroom brawl.

Since that hasn't happened, I probably don't need to be hypervigilant about keeping the party polite.  Chalk it up to my having spent way too long in the world of journalism, where online comments "are often a highly discordant element to a newspaper's online presence... as though you went to a nice restaurant, and ordered an expensive steak, and it came with a side of maggots." (Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Gene Weingarten.) 

Well, I guess we're even now -- you disparaged the Tea Party, but with that last quote I just grossed out our readers!  So I will bid you goodnight. 

[Noah O.]

Well, if that's your idea of fun, OK...   ???
Actually, I didn't think your one off-topic comment was that far out of line -- I was more worried that someone with a chip on his/her/its shoulder was going to mosey on over to you and turn our nice salon into a barroom brawl.

Since that hasn't happened, I probably don't need to be hypervigilant about keeping the party polite.  Chalk it up to my having spent way too long in the world of journalism, where online comments "are often a highly discordant element to a newspaper's online presence... as though you went to a nice restaurant, and ordered an expensive steak, and it came with a side of maggots." (Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Gene Weingarten.) 

Well, I guess we're even now -- you disparaged the Tea Party, but with that last quote I just grossed out our readers!  So I will bid you goodnight.

Well, I heard that maggot cheese is supposed to be a delicacy in some parts of the world, so...

[noako]

Who is this "we"?

Should I replace it for "americans", "citizens of u.s" or something else?