Today is May Day. But is that still a thing? Does anyone
still practice it? Does anyone besides old fogies like me even know what it is?
Just to be clear, I’m not talking about a mariner’s distress
call—that would be mayday. I’m speaking of the long past custom of, on
the first day of May, placing flowers on someone’s doorstep, ringing the bell
and then running away before they answer the door—known as May Day.
When I was a kid, this was fairly common. We did it every
year, sometimes to more than one person. It was fun, not only for me but I’m
pretty sure the people who got the flowers enjoyed it as well. But it’s been
years since I’ve heard of anyone engaging in the May Day practice.
Perhaps the tradition died off because there isn’t an app
for it. If it can’t be done on a phone or tablet, no one is interested. And May
Day does require a bit, just a bit, of physical activity, instead of merely
clicking on a button.
Or, perhaps the custom went away due to another reason. With
the growing trend these days of characterizing harmless activities as
destructive or even villainous, I can see the whole May Day thing being labeled
as criminal mischief or some such illegal behavior. And I can hear some
“concerned” official explaining how frightening such a thing could be for a
little old lady who lives alone. (Nevermind that if she’s older than 40 or so,
she’s probably quite familiar with May Day).
I seriously doubt that anyone would be frightened by
receiving flowers in such a manner. And I also have my doubts that any criminal
is going to take the time to arrange a nice bouquet of flowers and then go to
the trouble of delivering those flowers to his “victim.” Criminals usually
don’t want to put that much work into anything.
But for argument’s sake, let’s say that some poor old woman
is scared out of her wits by finding a bouquet at her door. If she really believed
she was in danger, couldn’t she just send out a mayday call? Sorry, I guess I
was talking about May Day in the sense of a distress call after all. ~
