It seems lately that states and cities are declaring a "day" or even a "month" for everything. There are the old-timers like the official Arbor Day, Earth Day and Peace Day. But the new crop of official days and months proclaimed by governors and mayors include such designations as Connecticut's "National Hunting and Fishing Day," California's "Drowsy Driver Awareness Day," North Carolina's "Wine and Grape Appreciation Month," and Georgia's "Litter Clean Up Month."
So, it shouldn't come as a surprise that one state -- Texas -- officially recognized this Sept. 8 as "Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses Day."
In a weird and satisfying example of one-upmanship, chiropractic scored a victory by getting the entire MONTH of October dedicated as "Chiropractic Month" in Oregon. Texas is 2.7 times larger in area than Oregon, but it's only got one day, so chiropractic wins!
Although some of the nonsense surrounding these official proclamations have made the whole idea of "official days" something of a joke, having a governor declare a chiropractic month can be a great idea, if it ends up being something more than a way to score points with an organization's membership.
To be effective, chiropractors have to really plan and execute a massive public education program around such proclamations as the one in Oregon, making sure local news outlets publicize them, and individual practitioners build events around the news.
Otherwise, it just ends up being an empty gesture that distracts from our real goals. Just another meaningless proclamation like National Mustard Day.
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