Photo by Foxtongue.
Danger meets a redhead at every turn. Gingers don’t know when the next assault will be hurled at them, usually a sly “do the carpet match the drapes?” comment or a “carrot top” reference. On Friday, November 20, it was a swift kick I feared.
I didn’t realize I was being threatened until my coworker approached me at my desk, rolled out my office chair, and delivered a kick to my shin. She then announced to the entire office that it was Kick a Ginger Day, and I spent the remainder of my afternoon periodically darting glances over my shoulder.
(To be fair, the kick from my coworker was more like a foot nudge, and all my other coworkers are male and didn’t want to be accused of beating a woman.)
This phenomenon started with the famous South Park episode, and then exploded into a national event which inspired the Facebook group “Kick a Ginger Day” (no longer in existence, apparently) with nearly 5,000 members. For some reason, kids took this idea a little too far.
In an effort to avoid violence, some mothers even made their children stay home from school on Friday. Other kids were prepared to fight back.
The teen who created the Facebook group was actually investigated by the RCMP in British Columbia for promoting hate and violence. Some kids even ended up with bruises. I’ll be the first to admit Gingers are often unattractive — take Carrot Top, for example — but certainly nobody deserves a drive-by egging from morons yelling “Gingers suck!”
Photo by fotologic
The Ginger Solution
Is this whole thing a gross exaggeration? Maybe, but I still recall the time from childhood when I overheard the public health nurse whisper to another woman: “I hate seeing kids with red hair, it seems so cruel.” Never mind the fact I haven’t had my tonsils removed because a doctor once told me redheads tend to bleed heavily during surgeries, thus setting me on a path of total terror when stepping foot into hospitals.
Fortunately, there are some kind, open-minded souls willing to take action to defend the Ginger nation. Kick a Ginger Day has appropriately been replaced with Hug a Ginger Day, promoting love and peace and happy squeezes all around the world. So next time you see a Ginger pass by, don’t shudder or gasp in horror at our translucent skin and freckled complexions. Reach out, my friends. Embrace.
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22 Comments... join the discussion!
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Poor Candice. I had no idea! Nothing good ever comes of South Park.
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Sigh, few people know the plight of a redhead. Just kiddin’. I’m allowed to have wild mood swings because of this hair, it’s great (except I don’t…ever).
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Didn’t know about this till now. Well, I like redhead girls.:)
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That’s the spirit!
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Oh poor gingers…:( Some Irish folks couch surfed with us a while back and said in Ireland you even put “ginger” on your license for hair color. I fully support hug a ginger day. I even dye my hair sometimes to look like a ginger.
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I did not know that, but that’s AWESOME! Hah. My family hails from Cork.
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Wow, this wild stuff! “…a doctor once told me redheads tend to bleed heavily during surgeries…” A real doctor? With a medical degree? Me thinks he might have been confusing his medical training with the old wive’s tales his grandmother told him. At any rate, a reason to be glad my hair is reddish-brown or reddish-blonde or whatever it is and not pure red… (no offense, Candice – your hair is beautiful. I just wouldn’t want to endure the travails of a 100% redhead.)
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Hahaha, yeah the doc was definitely an idiot, but there’s some evidence floating around that suggest redheads have higher tolerance for pain and need higher doses of anesthesia. Geez we’re complicated creatures.
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There are always studies done (apparently real medical ones that appear on the front page of Yahoo!) that say redheads feel more pain. But apparently, we also have a higher pain tolerance so it somehow balances out?
I dunno. Thankfully, no one kicked me last week. And if they had, they may well have had to contend with the wild redhead anger and moodiness. So I guess it’s for the best.
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As a fellow ginger, we need to stop gingerism!
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Represent!
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Oooooh, Candice. I hate to tell you that I know someone – am very close to this person in fact – who was told as a child that if he sees a redhead, he must touch his left ball to ward off bad luck. He still does it, even though it’s a joke to him now. I agree with Hal.
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Oh my, that is just too hilarious for words. What if he married a Ginger? Would he just be scratching his left ball all the time?
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Wow. Never knew about this. I was super intrigued by the title. I thought it was something to do with ginger addiction (I know, what the hell is that, right). Would never have figured this one out. Beyond weird tradition.
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Hahahahaha, hilarious. I’m sure it’s just a passing fad moreso than a tradition…at least I hope so.
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This year is apparently the year for ginger talk! -
A campaign of terror against redheads. Who knew?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/scavenger/detail?entry_id=52347↵ -
I didn’t find out about how much a lot of people hate gingers until very recently. I always just thought y’all were hot! People are weird.
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Christine, the Dutch have a Redhead Day!! Amazing. LOVE that link.
Jen, totally with you on that one, hah.
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I love giners! I like the idea of hugging them. But only after kicking them.
Jast keeding! Nothing but love for the red heads! <3
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I wasn’t aware of a kick a ginger day, my neices are ginger, so I’ll have to go home and protect them that day, just in case.
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When the carpet does match the curtains then I just cum instantly … mentally, not physically!!! Shit, that’s not the sort of thing you admit in public
As has been said before, ginger heaters are just jealous. I wouldn’t go for anything else personally.↵
