February: Not just about Valentine's Day

byline: Monti says what is the point?

Thoughts on Friendship

Teammates are eating breakfast together

Making memories with friends at lunch

The boys

Ladies talking about who knows what

Real friends will talk in the cold

Stephen Montisano

Intro to Journalism

2/24/14

February: Not only about Valentine’s Day

            Did you know that it is international friendship month?  Do not sweat it, neither did anyone else that was interviewed.  It seems that not very many people know that it is international friendship month, so why is it even necessary to declare it.  The whole idea of having a month to really devote time and effort into friends is silly due to the fact that people always want to do something fun and they want to have that fun with their friends.  Fun is a priority in American culture these days more so that it has been in the past.  But people do not just sit at home and have fun by themselves all the time; they have fun with their friends.

            When I asked Mr. Montisano if he was aware that February is international friendship month, he answered saying, “Well, I have not really checked my Hallmark calendar, so I was not aware.  I did not know.”  I then followed that question with the question, is it necessary to have an international friendship month and if so, why?  Mr. Montisano answered very well and said, ‘well at first it sounds unnecessary, because we should have friendship every single day, but it is always good to be reminded of good things like that. 

            I asked Mark Montisano if he thought that he would try to make some international friends or acquaintances in the spirit of the friendship themed month and he said, he is not opposed to that idea of making some international friends if that is how things play out, but he said he will probably just do what he always does and just hang out and make plans with his friends that he has right now.  Mark Montisano said that he will make sure to tell his friends that they mean a lot to him and that he appreciates their friendship but he said humorously, that he probably will not call them all on the phone and tell them to have a happy friendship month.  

            Being a student at Avila, I walked around campus asking the same question; “Are you aware that it is international friendship month.”  Everybody looked at me like I was being weird, annoying, or they just nicely said that they did not know.  The funny part is that nobody knows or seems to care that it is international friendship month.  This is the reason why I believe it to be unnecessary.  Where did international friendship month come from anyway?

            It turns out, there is not much research or literature on the international friendship month.  Some say that international friendship month started in South American countries like Paraguay around the year of 1958. (Wikipedia).  There is not a whole lot of official literature on international friendship month.  It seems that several months have a day devoted fro friendship and doing nice or appreciative things for your friend or friends.   So why then does February have to have a whole month devoted to it and why do people not even know that it is declared international friendship month?

            In conclusion to my research about international friendship month and its relevance or the need for it, I found that there really is not a need for a whole month dedicated to friendship.  It seems that the general consensus about friendship is that most everyone does well with having friends, talking with friends, and hanging out with friends.  I also found that social media is a great contributor to having, building, and making friendship.  People have that need and want for support and to love and be loved by other people.  We seek out friends.  Friendship is not an area that the general population struggles with therefore, I find it unnecessary to devote a whole month to