Queerguru checks out SINGLE AWARENESS DAY (SAD) that falls on February 15th

It seems like nearly every day in the year has been designated to celebrate and appreciate some section of society that needs our attention.  Just last month on Jan 10th there was Houseplant Appreciation Day, and in another 10 days it will be World Pistachio Day. We have no idea who makes the decision to celebrate what and on what day, but we do know that back n 2001, a high school student named Dustin Barnes made Feb 15th Singles Appreciation Day.  SAD for short.  He decided that after missing out on Valentines Day he would form a group with his friends so that instead of wallowing in the sorrows of being single, they could use a day to celebrate singleness.

Exactly how one is meant to do that is still a mystery to us, but Dustin passed this tradition from high school to Mississippi where it got very popular.  We know this because in 2005 he wrote in the Student Newspaper “I have my own day now, too. A day when my friends buy me things, as if they’re saying, “OK, so you’re single again. But this time I’m going to reward you for your hard work throughout the past year. This is for the countless hours you’ve spent talking to dead-end people. This is for the emotional stress caused by all the relationship games. This is for the bad dates, the fights, and the tears. You’ve been [through] a lot attempting to snag someone. Now, just for today, you can rest. This is for you, my single friend. Happy Singles Awareness Day.”

And then in 2015 it was copyrighted as Single Awareness Day. On this year’s Singles Awareness Day social media was jam-packed with #gaysingle posts by eligible bachelors, who may or may not be looking for a partner. See some of their selfies below.

However that is not enough for  the UK as they have two days attributed to highlighting single status. Since Single Awareness Day spells SAD and a group of dating experts wanted to highlight a more positive tone, they established National Singles Day. It is celebrated on 11 March with the aim to empower those who identify themselves as single.

So we dug deeper and discovered that in the US there is National Singles Day which takes place on the Saturday of Singles week in September. The day recognizes nearly half of the U.S. population who, whether by choice or circumstance, remain unattached.

There is also an official Singles day in China which serves as an occasion for single people to meet and for parties to be organized. Although this date is meant to celebrate singlehood, the desire to find a spouse or partner is often expressed by young Chinese people on this date. it has actually become the largest offline and online shopping day in the world.  Evidently, in China, Love is Not All You Need !