Apologies in advance for what may be a darker post than usual. Dark, but in some way practical, I hope.
Yesterday a friend and co-member of the DDC* and I hit upon a realisation. At the risk of sounding curmudgeonly, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a way to magically edit those bits of the internet that remind you of things you’d rather not be reminded of? Banners, Facebook ASUs, emails, etc.
Like, when it’s father’s day and you’re still getting used to the idea that that’s no longer something you celebrate. Or Mother’s day… Or (poss just me and my friends, this one) Christmas!
Of course, we’re not begrudging people that do still have parents left to celebrate, squeeze with utter love and make a fuss of. But for those who have just crash-landed anew in the DDC*, or for those who were never lucky enough to know their dads (or mums for that matter), there should be a simple way to soften the little blows a tiny bit with a bit of cyber-bubble-wrap. A way to ‘unsubscribe’ from Father’s Day and its chums. You might say ‘these things are all part of life’, or ‘get over it’, which is true to some extent. But it also depends how long you’ve had to come to terms with your loss.
Or as Holly puts it:
“Fathers’ Day is no doubt a lovely and enjoyable event for fathers and people with fathers everywhere. But there’s also a considerable group of people who have lost their dads, hate their dads, or otherwise just don’t want dad-dom shoved in their faces every year. This post is for those people.”
So if you’ve ever wondered how to turn down the volume on the reminders, whatever time of year, happily there is now a way. It’s not particularly easy reading, but here’s how to take them all down – one by one.
Thanks to Holly, who you might remember from the internet a few weeks ago. Over to you, Copybot.
* See Holly’s blog for what this joyful acronym stands for!
LORELEI MATHIAS 