Father's Day is the most embarrassing day of the year

June 18, 11:46 AMSouth St. Paul ExaminerRob Shirk

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We are approaching Father's Day, a holiday of dubious distinction that has been celebrated by few, laughed at by many, and ignored by most.

The inauspicious beginning got a toehold of respect beginning in 1910 and seems to have gotten its biggest boost in and around Spokane, Washington. The local newspaper, the Spokesman Review held it up for ridicule right from the beginning comparing its importance to such subsequent offerings as Grandparents' Day, Flag Day, Arbor Day, Professional Secretaries' Day all the way to national Clean Your Desk Day.

Mother's Day was initially met with a good deal of enthusiasm even though they got the grammar wrong. Father's Day was something like a three eyed frog; interesting as far as it goes but it doesn't go too far. There is also the "Hey! What about ME?" aspect of the whole thing, shamelessly hitching a ride on the back of mothers after they have done all the heavy lifting. It's rather embarrassing, really. They even went with the incorrect grammar just to make it unified. It should be Mothers' Day, Fathers' Day. I quibble too much, perhaps.

There is the one week of store promotions preceding the holiday that is comical in scope not even outdone in chutzpah by such a lame holiday as Presidents' Day. Car batteries, polo shirts for that day on the golf course, and steakhouses all try to muscle in on a pathetically small part of the population that would care to spend money on dear old dad. I'll bet you could even find a table at Old Country Buffet, an impossibility on Mother's Day.

Aside from being a father and a surly and cringe-worthy recipient of the accolades that will descend from on high next Sunday, there is much to consider when it comes to fatherhood. The fact is, a lot of fathers immediately abandon the mother and child leading to an untold amount of dismay and disruption in America. On the one hand we have Father's Day, on the other we have the disintegration of the nuclear family with the father playing no part whatsoever in a child's upbringing. It is appalling.