The Day of Fools is Here – And It’s Still Snowing …

I am not much of a fan for April Fool’s Day, probably because too many people play cruel jokes, which may be funny to them, but not the victims. For an example, the fool who devised the April 1st worm/virus. How would anyone think that funny?

However, I am all for humor, a reprise away from the reality of the world around us.

And since I am mentioning humor, here is something sent in by Joan B., Illinois, long-time Friend of LPJ …

Dear Abby,
I am a 60-year-old woman who is married to a man who acts like he hates me. In public, he pretends he loves me and talks about how wonderful I am. But in private, he shakes his finger in my face and calls me the “B” word. He constantly tells me how ugly I am without makeup. I’ve tried everything, including a face lift, botox treatments, and a chin tuck. I even went on a diet and lost 20 pounds.
He quit his job a few years ago after having an affair with a woman in his office. He hasn’t even looked for another job. We haven’t slept together since I confronted him about the affair. He denied it, of course, but everybody knew it. It was humiliating. I believe he is still messing around.
While we both want to sell this house, we argue constantly about when to put it on the market. The house we want will be available in a few months. My husband wants to put our house on the market now. I think we should wait a while. He has already started collecting boxes and packing up his stuff. Do you think he is planning to leave me?
Signed, Worried in NY

Dear Worried in NY:
I doubt it. He wants to move back into the White House as much as you do.
Abby

HISTORY OF APRIL FOOLS DAY:

Going as far back as ancient Rome, during the Saturnalia, a Roman winter festival that was observed at the end of December involved dancing, drinking, and general fun things. People exchanged gifts; slaves were allowed to pretend that they ruled their masters, and a mock king, the Saturnalicius princes (Lord of Misrule), reigned for the day.

Or so goes the guessed history of April Fools Day at the beginning of some sources. And isn’t it strange that Saturnalia is recognized as the Christian origin of Christmas as well? Hogwash.

However, there was a Celtic festival that honored Lud, a Celtic god of humor, and that is more likely the origin of the April Fools Day concept. Lud was also the name of the son of Shem, Noah’s grandson, as well as the fictional city in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series.

It is also true that the Roman Christians took up the practice/social tradition of the previous Roman Empire did – assimilate the conquered religion or alter/compare their religion in order for the conquered subjects of a nation would better assimilate into Roman culture and rule. That part is fact concerning the early Christian Church – but the similarity ends there. And Saturnalia has nothing to do (except maybe the Saturnalicius princeps part) with April Fools Day, which definitely began during what is known as the middle age or Medieval Age. (See Ship of Fools)

The festival was called Festus Fatuorum (Feast of Fools), which may, in remembrance of the part of Saturnalia that involved a mock king for a day – usually a comical character of the populace. In that, the presumed origin is probably accurate. On this day, mostly in France, the people elected a mock pope and imitated church rituals. The Church, of course, didn’t like this for obvious reasons and tried to discourage the populace in the mockery of the highest office of the Roman Catholic Church. But, it still was celebrated in that fashion up to about the 16^th century.

After the Feast of Fools was done away with, those who enjoy a fun time began to pay more attention to the Mardi Gras and Carnival festivals. A medieval caricature of a medieval person or symbolic of a patron saint for that day; and fools became prominent in the medieval courts of Europe entertaining the monarchy, as well as in town squares. The traditional garb they wore has become known even today, even on two deck cards in a poker playing card deck known as the Joker – a multicolored robe or suit, horned hat that often had bells sewn at the ends to jingle while the fool/joker walked, a scepter satirically representing royalty, and the elf-like pointy shoes.

In Britain, April Fool’s Day is linked to the town of Gotham, a legendary town of fools located in Nottinghamshire, later used as the background city (caricature of New York City, which is also nicknamed “Gotham” city in the original DC Comics and film/TV adaptations of Batman. According to the legend of the English city and concerning a 13^th century tradition where any road that the King traveled on became public property. The citizens of Gotham didn’t want to lose their city’s main road, so they told a false story to stop King John from passing through their town. When the King learned of this deception, he sent a messenger to demand that they explain their actions. But when the messenger arrived in Gotham he found the town was full of lunatics who were performing foolish acts such as drowning fish or attempting to cage birds in roofless fences. The King fell for the ruse and declared the town too foolish to punish. Since then, that day of April 1^st has supposedly become a day of trickery.

Anthropologists and cultural historians and scholars state that the celebration traces to the festivals that marked the Vernal Equinox, or spring season. This makes more sense than Saturnalia, the winter festival of ancient Rome. However, this day was celebrated on May 1^st, which today is still called May Day (not to be confused with the distress signal) and for the Christian Church, the Day of Ascension (of Jesus the Christ). Anthropologists state that the misrule theme and general jocularity doesn’t undermine the authority but instead is a day to blow off steam, as well as celebrating the drudgery and depression of cold, stark winters. This is evident as spring ushers in the budding and new growth of plant life, melting snow and warmer weather.

The latter history is probably more attuned to the April Foolery comparison to Spring Festivals. Today, the French still use the term: “Poisson d’Avril”, which means April Fish – the origin tracing back to the custom of fish spawning and young fish hatching in French streams and rivers during early April. It is also a custom to give presents in the form of chocolate shaped like fish on April 1^st.

Bob McCarty, fellow blogger, writes in an email … How Will the Trucking Shutdown Impact You? …

In a post three days ago, I reported on the threatened April 1 shutdown by independent truckers. Today, I take a look at the number of truck drivers likely to participate in the effort, the likelihood of the shutdown getting the attention of members of Congress and the impact such a shutdown is likely to have on both independent truckers and ordinary Americans.
Realizing it next to impossible to calculate an accurate number of truck drivers who will take part in the extremely serious April Fool’s Day effort, I’ve opted instead to crunch numbers to determine how many truckers might participate. In order to do that, I must first look at how many independent owner-operators and professional drivers are in the mix. To do that, I turned to one government source and one industry source:
- U.S. Department of Labor statistics show that almost 1.7 million people “drive a tractor-trailer combination or a truck with a capacity of at least 26,000 GVW, to transport and deliver goods, livestock, or materials in liquid, loose, or packaged form.”
- The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association counts as members, according to a page of the OOIDA web site, more than 160,000 male and female drivers representing all 50 states and Canada. Collectively, they own and/or operate more than 240,000 individual heavy-duty trucks and small truck fleets.
Based solely on the numbers above, a shutdown by all members of the OOIDA would result in almost 10 percent of the nation’s truckers being parked April 1. And, if you think a 100-percent participation rate would be impossible to achieve, think again.
In an article published March 27, OOIDA President and CEO Jim Johnston said “…we saw nearly 100 percent of truckers participating in strikes” as part of a larger statement about what we remembered as the desperate days of the ‘70s: …
In short, the possibility of more than 160,000 drivers shutting down April 1 is real. …
In truth, I don’t suspect a shutdown by independence truckers will impact most Americans at all. Instead, I believe the following chain of events will take place: …

Read the rest of the story at Bob’s site. Bob believes that the “independent truckers days are numbered.”

And, I am wondering all the while if Bob is not playing an April Fool’s Day prank. I used to drive over-the-road, and truckers always talked about shutting down to get the attention of Congress to build another refinery, upgrade the ones we have, and explore/drill oil within American territory to become more self sufficient – weaned away from foreign oil supplies. They never could get together and make it happen.

However, the US Cattle Haulers site recommends that today, April 1^st, is the day to “pull over, park and say enough is enough”. Bob’s links are legitimate, so we will see. Thus far I have not seen any truck driver strike announced over the wire or in the news ticker display on my screen, and I have been here all morning. Due to the snowstorm outside, I certainly am not going to the local truck stop to discover if this is occurring. In fact, they may have to pull over if it continues to snow. It rained yesterday, so this snow is topping a layer of ice. Oh, the grief of global warming! Read Bob’s article No Joke: Truckers to ‘Shut Down’ April 1.

After research and cyberspace surfing, I have found a few entries, some from independent truckers with access to the Internet that they are indeed parked. The National Ledger also writes about it. And here are some more links:

Topix – April 1 Strike
Trucker Strike – God-Like Productions
NewsChannel 5 – Truck Drivers Threat
April 1 Truck Shut Down – Truckers Industry

The price of goods has gone up because of the price of fuel. If the trucking industry goes on strike, will this also lead to even higher prices? You bet, because the truckers will be looking for more payment per mile and this in turn will force the merchandise and food industry to raise prices accordingly. The kicker is that the average American is not making any more than they were when the price of fuel started jumping up and staying there. And, since then, as other things cost more – we are forced to try to budget all of this with the same money before the price increase.

What’s wrong with that picture?

And, isn’t it marvelous how quickly Congress legislates garbage bills like Campaign Finance Reform and amnesty for illegal immigrants – but doesn’t research nor act upon important issues like weaning away from foreign oil dependence by a new refinery, refitting present refineries, and obtaining our oil here in America and the territorial waters off the coast. We really need to clean Congress out of this type of politician, if we can find an acceptable substitute. Too often members of Congress stay in office because no one runs against them. What’s wrong with that picture?

I probably should have posted this at Witchy Woman’s Venting Volcano. Maybe I am getting cabin fever with all this snow still on the ground and more falling. The snow blower should be put away until winter returns. Easter has come and gone. We should be ordering our plants for May planting, performing spring cleaning, and just enjoying the warmer weather (at least in the day time). But no, I am wearing shades so I don’t go snow blind!

Okay, enuff venting.

Have a nice April Fool’s Day.

Here are some links for April 1^st …

April Fool’s Day – When Hoaxers Come Out to Play – New Zealand Herald
April Fool’s Day – Wikipedia
April Fool’s Day: Origin and History – InfoPlease
Top 100 April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time – Museum of Hoaxes
April Fool Day – TheFoolsDay.com