March 9 – Panic Day (or Don't Panic Day?)

nPostednon March 9, 2015

nWhonon earth would create a “holiday” called Panic Day?

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nInlooked around the internet for a while and could not discover thenanswer to that question. So I assume it was just some non-powerfulnperson declaring a day to celebrate panic, on any random day, for nonparticular reason…And if someone can do that, perhaps I can justnturn the tables and declare today Don’t Panic Day!!!

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nAfternall, panicnis defined as a sudden, extreme, uncontrollable fear or anxiety thatnoften causes unreasonable, irrational, unthinking behavior. And thatnjust is not good!

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n(Bynthe way, a “panic button” cannbe a good thing; you would press it to call for help in an emergency.n But of course sometimes, when people say something like, “He hitnthe panic button,” they are speaking metaphorically. In thosencases, they just mean that someone panicked—not that there was annactual button to press.)

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nHerenare some of my favorite Panic! / Don’t Panic! things:

nPanic! At the Disconis a rock band.

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nStephen Colbert usednto make fun of the fear-mongering media who tried to get betternratings and bigger audiences by amping up the threat level of newsnstories. He especially told us to panic over bears!

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DouglasnAdams‘s very funny books describes ThenHitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxynas being wholly remarkable, partly because it has the words “Don’tnPanic” printed in large friendly letters on its cover.

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Keep Calm Posters: Therenare ALL these clever and often humorous memes that take off from thenBritish attitude of “Keep calm and carry on.” Did you know thatnthe original poster was produced by the British government in 1939?nIt was an effort to raise the morale of people as they prepared fornWorld War II, in which the Britain expected (and got) mass airnattacks from the Nazis.

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nTherenis nothing silly about the poster or the morale-boosting saying. Andnwhen a British couple found an inspirational wartime poster in a boxnof old books, and hung it in their bookshop, there is nothing sillynabout the fact that they sold 40,000 freshly-printed copies of thenposter in just nine years. Besides for the original hanging in thenbookstore, there are 21 other known posters in museums and privatencollections.

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Now,nin addition to the valuable original posters and tens of thousands ofnreplica posters, there are mugs and bags and other items with thenoriginal sayings or funny take-offs.