Amnesty Day

I’ve decided there should be an Amnesty Day for friends. Not because of any one thing or person (in case some thing or person is reading this blog post going, “wait, is this for me?”), but simply because it occurs to me that this would be a nice thing.

It’s something I would personally appreciate. If my friends are afraid of telling me that I actually have breath that can kill a horse at fifty feet, or that I made them cry by forgetting their birthday last year (something I do with appalling frequency), I would like to know, and more than that, I’d like to have it come in a frame of “Oh My God, This is Totally Not Important Which is Why I Never Told You, but Today is Amnesty Day and This Is, Afterall, Something I Have Thought, More Than Once.”

For one day, you can tell your friends the niggling little things (okay, thing. One thing a year. If something else bothers you, save it ’til next year) that annoy you; hurt your feelings; made you embarrassed to be seen in public with them. With all joking put aside, so you know that someone’s not just “giving you a hard time.” It’s real; it not as important as your feelings, or your friendship, but it’s real.

Is this an awful idea? Will the world implode and men turn into self-isolated hermits full of paranoia and loathing? I don’t think so. In the interest of Amnesty, feel free to leave me a peeve in the comments. With the full understanding that I will reply with a peeve (if I have one; I won’t make one up out of pique), and please, one peeve only, with an expiration date 24 hours from now. I’m feeling tough and inspired to improve myself today, but tomorrow may be another thing, and Amnesty Day is only once a year.