My 4-year-old daughter, Sunny, likes to play this game called Opposite Day, where basically you say the opposite of what you mean. So she’ll say stuff like, “Boppa, I don’t love you.” And then she’ll smile and declare: “OPPOSITE DAY!”
And then we’ll keep going back and forth with Opposite Day declarations until she says, “It’s no longer Opposite Day!” But then I’m like, “Wait — does that mean it really IS still Opposite Day?” And then things get really confusing.
Anyway, in honor of Opposite Day, today’s blog is sort of the opposite of yesterday’s. Loyal Sidetracked readers (or, as I like to refer to them, the Army of the Enlightened) will remember that yesterday’s blog was about things that annoy me. Today’s blog, then, will be about things that pleasantly surprise me.
So here we go:
1.) Bag fries.
Okay, I don’t often go to fast food places. But sometimes, you know — you get the urge. And after you’ve scarfed down your cheeseburgers and fries, there’s that great feeling when you look in the bag and find a few extra fries.
2.) Unexpected money.
A while back, I learned that my great-grandfather had retained mineral rights to a piece of land in Illinois. And I, being 1/80th or whatever of his inheritance, actually got a couple of hundred bucks from the coal company that was digging there. Yeah, it didn’t boost me into the next tax bracket, but, hey — it bought a couple of CDs and dinner.
If they ever drill for oil there, I’ll be a millionaire.
3.) Extra sleep.
Isn’t it great when you wake up on a weekday and realize you can sleep another two hours?
4.) New socks.
Seriously. Nothing feels better than a new pair of socks the first time you try them on.
5.) Surprise holiday.
We all know Christmas is Dec. 25 and the Fourth of July is, well — the fourth of July. But I never seem to remember when holidays like Memorial Day hits. Sometimes I even forget that we have that day off. So it’s always great when I find out these hidden holidays are, like, a week away. Even better if it’s a 3-day weekend.
As a matter of fact, this weekend is a 3-day weekend.
Oh wait — OPPOSITE DAY!
Posted on June 18th, 2008 by Pat
Filed under: The World According to Pat
I remember playing “Opposite Day” as a kid.
As I recall, Opposite Day took place on Wednesdays. My brothers and I would try to fool each other by making contradictory statements and blatantly lying, but we usually ran out of steam by mid-afternoon.
As part of the ‘army of the enlightened’, and a real fan of “Opposite Day”, I must tell you that in my family we had an “It’s all right to cuss day.” Once a month on a Friday, around the dinner table, you could say anything you f*#%ing wanted to say - no holds barred. We normally ended up in helpless laughter. It also kind of took the novelty out of cussing - and to this day, gosh darn it, I’m not a real big cusser.
Oh s#@t! Gotta go back to work!