Commentary by Danielle Pelkey

The North Jefferson News



After celebrating the earliest Easter in the history of my life, it seems like the next few months will be without a holiday. This makes me sad in some ways because I love holidays. I love the excitement leading up to each event.

But on the other hand, I don’t like the pressure of having to go out and buy special things for each holiday that comes down the pipe.

I heard a report this past week that said that the average American spends about $138 on their Easter outfit.

This made me cringe.

Things like this are the very reason Americans are in such debt. Can you imagine spending more than $100 on a single outfit? It makes me want to scream. If you have that kind of money, please come to the newspaper and donate some to the Pelkey family. We would love to share in your wealth with you.

I was looking at our Easter clothes this year and had to laugh. My daughter was wearing a $3 consignment sale dress. Now, don’t get me wrong, she looked like a million bucks, but I knew how much I had spent on that little dress. My husband was wearing a hand-me-down shirt and a pair of old blue jeans and I was wearing one of my work outfits.

There was a day that the excitement of Easter drove me out to the store in pursuit of the best clothes that money can buy. Those days were over the day I moved out of my parents’ house and started having to buy my own Easter dresses.

At this point, left-over, hand-me-down clothes are the pick of the litter.

As I looked around the church house this Easter, I was happy to see that not everyone felt the need to rush to the nearest mall and buy up the latest fashion. There were quite a few church-goers wearing their old pants and shirts that I know I have seen before.

I’m not trying to take away from the holiday. I love the opportunity to buy new clothes for a good occasion, but it was nice not to feel the pressures of society so strong to go and buy a new pair of shoes, new blouse or some new jewelry.

This year, Easter was one of my favorite Easters yet. We had both sides of my family together under the same roof celebrating the resurrection of Christ. We were surrounded with family and food, and in my opinion, this makes for a pretty awesome day.

According to my calendar, the next major holiday takes place on April 23. This is Administrative Professional Day and, as an administrative professional, I intent to receive flowers, cards, money and anything else that pops into my head. Isn’t it funny that when a holiday is focused around you, then that holiday seems more important than other holidays? Like, for most people, their birthday seems like a bigger event than anyone else’s birthday.

Actually, for April 23, I’ll just be happy not to receive a pink slip. I still love my job, and I still love all of the holidays that take place each and every year.