Easter

Yesterday was Easter, which is a holiday I don't generally think that much about, but this year for some reason, it seemed more omnipresent...

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"Have a Good Holiday"

Easter is, of course, a religious holiday. To active Christians, it is the second biggest day of the year (or, is supposed to be). As with that other big Christian holiday, however, there's been a secular takeover of Easter for commercial gain, and now it's pretty much just about chocolate bunnies and marshmallow peeps and cheap plastic toys small enough to tuck in a basket. Maybe for some people, Easter is a big family event, but since my family hasn't made much of a commotion over it since I was in grade school, I chose to stay here for the weekend, rather than make the six-hour drive back to my parents' house for the holiday. I've made this same choice every Easter for the past five or six years. And since, in my mind, it's not really a holiday if I don't drive to eastern Wisconsin or get a day off of work, Easter pretty much nearly slipped my mind.

That's why I was surprised, almost confused, when the woman who handed me my sliced turkey in the Cub deli on Saturday and the one who bagged my sale items at Kohl's on Friday both instructed me to "have a good holiday." Suddenly, I was either back in December or fast forwarded to May. What "holiday" was I supposed to be ensuring was good? When did Easter become an event to anticipate and wish well for towards strangers? And why "holiday"? I understand that in December, those of us who celebrate Christmas might say "have a good holiday" in an attempt to avoid offending those who don't celebrate Christmas's religious or commercial significance, and I guess that makes some amount of sense, since the theory is that at least one of the recognized December/January holidays will appeal to or connect with whomever we're greeting. But Easter? There is no seasonally equivalent, non-Christian holiday compatible with Easter, is there? So, "holiday"? Was that a bizarre and misguided attempt at political correctness, or is Easter really a day worthy of a special greeting from retail employees? I don't get it. As usual, however, I'm probably just overanalyzing. I'll stop now. I think I'll go make sure Arbor Day is noted on my calendar, so I can properly greet the receptionist at the health club that day.


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"So it's pretty much just about the food"

Apparently I'm not the only one failing to realize the significance Easter still holds. Despite my assertion that it was pretty much just another Sunday, when my sister proposed organizing a group to go to brunch at Nye's, I agreed. After all, I'd never eaten there (unless you count the olives in a bloody mary, of course), and the two-column list of buffet items advertised on the flyer sounded far more appealing than the buffets I have "enjoyed" at the Manitowoc County supper clubs where my family spends most Thanksgivings and Easters.

Among our party for brunch was a German friend who was confused by the "Sunday best" attire he noticed in a local coffee shop that morning. Suddenly he was concerned about being underdressed in his "snappy casual" jeans and button-up shirt, though he didn't fully understand why. "What's really the big deal about Easter?" he asked. His girlfriend, my dear friend Jamie, stupefying exclaimed, "It's ONLY the second-most important religious holiday of the year!" She was only partially serious in her mocking, but in her classy suit jacket and velvet pants, clearly she saw more significance to the day than he did. I'm not sure whether his disorientation had something to do with being German or more to do with being a lapsed Catholic from a not-very-religious family. As I expect Catholics in Germany celebrate Easter much like the Catholics of German descent in my home town church do, I expect it's more of the latter. Being a lapsed Catholic myself, I can relate.

Nevertheless, we quickly realized that the easiest way to explain this holiday to our German lapsed Catholic friend was to point out the most important element of all American holidays--the food. Think about it. Sure, there are your traditional food-related holidays (i.e., Thanksgiving, Christmas). In reality, though, nearly every holiday recognized in this country has some element of eating as an organized team sport. Labor Day? Massive picnics and barbecues. Memorial Day? Ditto. Fourth of July? Same. Halloween? Candy. OK, so I've never been offered a Presidents' Day cookie or been invited to a Columbus Day brunch, but obviously it's not so shocking that Easter is just another holiday where we give ourselves permission to become stuffed to the belt-loosening point and then spend the rest of the day parked on the couch. Explained in this manner, my German friend got it. "So it's pretty much just about the food," he said. "I think I'm getting the hang of this," he smiled. And then we all turned to listen to my sister arguing with her Jewish boyfriend about when the networks air "the Easter shows." We may all be heathens, but at least we got a good meal.