#2795 three things: special days

 

1. National "days". You know how every day is a National "This Thing" Day? For example, today, 17 November, is National Homemade Bread Day, National Baklava Day, National Butter Day, National Rural Health Day, and National Take a Hike Day. It is also World Pancreatic Cancer Day. I'm not making this up. There is a website, and probably an app, that tells you this information. I didn't partake in any of these national things, but I had a couple of events today that I'll put on my own list.

2. Red Cup Day. Today is Red Cup Day at Starbucks. In my mind, Red Cup Day meant the day the holiday drinks were announced and the red cups are available. But the holiday drinks, including my favorite, peppermint mocha, came out a week or so ago and the cups were a holiday special edition. Thursday is typically the day I go to Starbucks anyway, so I stopped in for a peppermint mocha this morning. I used the mobile order feature on the app, so my coffee was ready when I got there. Next to my festive little holiday cup was a plastic red cup. I thought the barista had put someone else's coffee close to mine, so I picked up my festive cup and turned to leave when the barista told me that I got the plastic cup, too. I was so excited! I thought they were giving me a little gift because I'm such a regular customer. 

I take my cup of coffee and my red cup into the office to show my friendly co-workers. One of them comes in, and she doesn't have a red cup. My suspicions are confirmed! They like me! They really like me! They gave me a red cup! My friendly co-worker whose daughter works at Starbucks then came into the office and said, "Hey! You got a red cup! You must have ordered a holiday drink." I nodded and lifted my peppermint mocha in salute. My other co-worker, who did not get a red cup then said, "Oh, you have to order a holiday drink to get one, huh?" Starbucks mom said, "Yes." 

Sigh. I'm not special after all. It totally cracks me up that I thought that I was special to Starbucks even for a second. 

Oh well. I still got the Red Cup, and I learned that Red Cup Day literally means you get a red cup.

3. Dip Day. There is a long-standing tradition at the office, and we call it Dip Day. Everyone is welcome to bring a dip, or really anything they would like to share, and we snack all day long. We called today's Dip Day "Worksgiving". Get it? A take on "Friendsgiving"? We had a wide assortment of stuff. There were pumpkin dishes, including a pie, a cake, and a dip. There were traditional dips like cheeseballs and heated dips, salsa and pepper jellies over cream cheese. There was also stuffing, sweet potatoes, rice krispie treats shaped like turkeys, a charcuterie board, plus all the things you could want as a conveyor of the dips. We do NOT mess around on Dip Day. It is a time-honored tradition that everyone likes a lot, until the end of the day, that is, when the dips are all picked over and looking sad, if there are any left, and people feel kind of ill from snacking all day. 

This was probably our last Dip Day of 2022. I think we had three of them this year. We didn't have any for the past couple of years, of course, because of The Virus, so it was fun to see Dip Day's triumphant return.  Viva Dip Day! 

I wish I'd taken a photo or two. It is truly a spectacle.