Australia, as we all know, is just like America, only upside-down. Australians speak English, though unintelligibly. They spend dollars, though theirs are worth far, far less than ours. And not only do they celebrate Father’s Day (tomorrow, apparently), but they have cranky dads who think the whole thing is koala-shit:
Regardless of what illness, deadlines or domestic spats we’re in the midst of, Father’s Day joy will prevail.
This is because fatherhood is the Most Important Thing Ever – next to the mortgage, career, football, television and Facebook. Given the chance to commemorate the sacred bonds between fathers and children, we’ll stop our bickering or distracted web surfing, and concentrate on the unalloyed happiness of family. For one day. Maybe. Perhaps just for lunch, while the footy replay’s on.
It’s bunkum. I say this as a committed, stay-at-home dad. Not even copywriters selling remote-controlled wine coolers really believe Father’s Day can overcome the ambivalent reality of family life. The moods that blight or boost everyday domesticity also prevail on the first Sunday of September.
I don’t really have much to add to this, except that it’s nice to know that for every parental paradise like Sweden, there’s another wretched hellhole of commercialism and banal moral lessons. Now go enjoy your extended weekend.