Overheard last week: “How come there’s no International Men’s Day?”

Geez buddy, where were you? We already celebrated Men’s Day.

It was fun! Guys went snowmobiling and fishing, we played a little hockey and watched a lot of hockey. We had a few beers, told a couple of dirty jokes and there were high fives all around.

There had been some talk of offering men discounts at all stores in honour of Men’s Day, but organizers figured it would be easier if men in Alberta just took home 30 per cent more pay than women – it amounts to the same thing, after all.

We all celebrated in different ways. Some guys got the “King for a Day” treatment: their meals were prepared for them, the kids were taken care of, the dishes and laundry and housework were looked after. Of course most of the guys pitched in and helped, and some helped a lot. Way to go, Dude! High five!

In some workplaces, men were selected out-of-turn for career advancement in recognition of Men’s Day. Work meetings and coffee breaks observed the theme of the special occasion – guys hung together and engaged in jokes and shenanigans at the ladies’ expense.

(Thanks for being such good sports about it, girls! You know we love having you around!)

Sadly, some men became violent. This is not what Men’s Day is all about, and organizers made it clear that such behaviour is abhorrent and intolerable. Seems there’s always somebody who tries to spoil a good thing for everybody else.

But despite (hundreds of thousands of) such isolated incidents, Men’s Day was a fantastic time. Traditional gender roles place a lot of pressure on men, and we carry a great deal of responsibility. How nice that once a year we can let off some steam, drink some beer, watch some sports and just be ourselves.

As one happy participant said, “Too bad we can’t do this every day!”