There was this article on CNN today about how today, Monday, January 21, is the most depressing day of the year. We all know that Garfield hates Mondays, but has it really gotten to the point where we can actually pinpoint a specific date on the calendar to which we can attribute our crank-tastic and pouty-mouthed gloom? Evidently, there is.
CNN say, “the theory set forth by Dr. Cliff Arnall, a researcher from Cardiff University, that the third Monday of the month (Jan. 21, this year) — a day he calls Blue Monday — will be our most depressing day of the year. Arnall bases his yearly prediction on a formula he developed, which factors in the weather, consumer debt from holiday spending and failed New Year’s resolutions and arrives at that conclusion that we’ll hit rock bottom on Monday the 21st.”
Yikes! But let’s look at these factors that Arnall has examined.
1. Weather — I don’t know where you are, but in Norfolk, it’s balmy 32 degrees (compared to the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field and Foxboro Stadium
. These last couple of weeks, the weather has been up and down more than Oprah’s weight. Fluctuating weight, fluctuating weather, both mean one thing — what the deuce am I going to wear today? That’s enough to make your lip poke out.
2. Consumer debt from holiday spending — Ahhh, the best laid plans of mice and men. . . I had every intention of sticking to our holiday budget of spending $50 on Craig, and no more than $100 on each of the girls. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I can’t be a Scrooge when it comes to my family. I won’t go as far as to say I plunged us into a hemmoraging debt, the likes of which have me typing this from a public library, sitting next to Larry, Stinky Pete and his dog, Jingles, who just came in to use the facilities to wash up. Gifts are nice. Money is nice. Having more more money then debt is even nicer. I rate it right up there next to oxygen.
3. Failed New Year’s Resolutions — Well, my resolution was (again) to floss. I didn’t set a specific frequency, but I will say that I have been doing it a lot more than I thought I would. Yay, me! High Five and chest bump on the mirror!
As with many things, I take all theories with a grain of salt. Sure, I can get moody from about Halloween through mid to late January, but who doesn’t. It’s a non-stop family-fun-filled-food-fest. There’s bound to be a post-she-bang-a-bang let down. I mean, when the egg nog leaves the shelves until the next holiday season? That’s enough to make anyone feel like crap on toast!