Every year for the past 5-7 years, about 3 weeks before Mother's Day, I get these emails from various businesses, this one in particular from Jeni's Ice Cream - yes, ice cream of all things:
Hey there.
We know Mother’s Day is a really difficult time for some people.
This year, like every year, we’re giving you the chance to opt out
of our Mother’s Day emails.
We’ll still send emails about new flavors and in-shop offerings —
we just won’t send you anything related to Mother’s Day.
As you can probably already imagine, I get a similar one just before Father's Day. There is as stated a method of "opting out" in the emails for this; my question and statement is how do I opt OUT of these ridiculous emails?! That's the puzzler.
I'm not entirely sure who exactly started this whole thing or why, for that matter, but it is one of many head shakers in today's world. Sure, I get it...if you've lost a parent, yeah, it may be hard for you to experience Mother's Day now that they're gone. But, should it be? And, is this really that loaded of a thing? I mean, do you completely have a mental breakdown because Jeni's Ice Cream, which you voluntarily signed up for the email list, sent you a message in your inbox that mentions "Mother's Day"? Hmm.
Let's be honest for a minute... If all goes well in your life, your parents will in fact pass away before you do. This is, um, fact. If that doesn't happen, well, you were probably unlucky on some level :) Next point, Mother's Day and Father's Day can just as easily be a day to remember your parents fondly (or not) as it is to actively celebrate with them, no? Again, hmm. And, let's not forget this one...both "holidays", if that's how you think of them (I don't personally), are more or less commercially driven holidays that once drove a thriving greeting card industry. So, in reality, what we're saying is "please don't make me remember my mother or father, of the lack of one potentially, on a commercially made up holiday". Yes, I think that's it exactly, no?
Again, let's be honest here for once, something we don't seem to actively do anymore... The younger generations post Gen X were raised to think that every day of their lives they're champions, that they do no wrong, and that life is nothing but good things. The reality is, though, that's untrue, and whereas I think it's great to keep your children from experiencing unnecessary hardships or traumas (of course), no one can completely shelter out all hardships, so, wait for it...whether you like it or not, we're all going to have a bad/hard/awful day here and there because (again, wait for it)...life is in fact "hard", not a game of trophies.
Once we've all digested that long overdue sentiment and said it out loud, in the grand scheme of life, is that commerce generating email about ice cream going to ruin your day so much that you need a method to "opt out"? If the answer is 'yes', I'd suggest just hitting the "unsubscribe" button instead. In fact, I think we'd all do some good for ourselves if we hit the "unsubscribe" button more often. But truly, if your answer is in fact 'yes', well, you're in for a hard life and some brutal reality that will in fact catch up with you eventually - hate to be the one to tell ya. So, buckle up...it's going to get rough, and that Mother's Day email that you received at one point that made you so upset in your younger days is going to look pretty silly later on...trust me.
Whew! Okay, I've gotten that off of my chest. Now, if only I could get rid of these phone calls where they keep calling me Kenneth and trying to persuade me to send personal info for a mysterious loan I never applied for. Ugh.
