Seriously, March 27th is National Joe Day – you can check it on Google. And as happy and excited that it is my day, I am not sure, though, how to truly make a connection to THPL. Well, maybe there is a connection, maybe there is not always a connection. Let’s see what we can find out by exploring for a minute this National Joe Day thing and see what we learn.
OK, National Joe Day is not designated by Congress as an official national holiday, but it is celebrated every year on March 27th. The origins of this holiday are rather murky, but the gist is that everyone can call themselves Joe on this day. If you’re female, just say it is short for Josephine. Anyone can call themselves Joe on this holiday – even the real Joes.
The name Joe, is possibly derived from the Scottish word jo or joe, meaning sweetheart - joe refers to the regular guy or every-man. According to Merriam-Webster, the first documented use of the term, Joe, was in 1846. Offshoots are Joe Blow, Average Joe, Ordinary Joe, Joe Lunch bucket, Lucky Joe and Good Joe. Joe simply stands for the every-man, for the underdog or the common man.
G.I. Joe was a cult phenomenon. G.I. was first used in the U.S. army in 1935 to denote Government Issue. Joe Cool is the alter-ego of the beagle, Snoopy, from Charles Schultz’s ‘Peanuts’ cartoon. Snoopy dons sunglasses and walks on two legs to become the nonchalant, Joe Cool.
And so is there a pattern? Not sure there is. But we cannot leave it at that - how about we think about it slightly differently? What’s in a name? What does a label mean? We use a label in this blog every day – THPL – to convey the messages of Life, Learning and Fitness. And in this context the name Joe serves to provide a catalyst for moving beyond the unpredictably common to the mostly regular. Yes we do have our National Joe day. But I offer to trade it to anyone for a cup of Joe, which can mean a cup of coffee; or for one of our readers a daily blog post from the author Joe.
Loving Life as Joe and hoping we all are today.
Sally hurt a lot – 3:26 +30 seconds, plus 218 pushups on 4:17
Ciao
joe