True or false?
Surprise! More collect telephone calls are made on Fathers Day than on any other day of the year. Fathers Day was the brainchild of Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington. His father, Civil War veteran, William Smart, was a single parent that raised six children on his own, after his wife died during childbirth. Listening to a passionate Mother’s Day sermon in 1909, Sonora felt that a day was needed to honor his father, and other father’s like his. So, he settled on June 19th (his father’s birthday), and the world’s first official Fathers Day was celebrated on June 19th, 1910.
Though there was a lot of lobbying, and many congressional resolutions to proclaim a national Fathers Day, the holiday wasn’t made official until 1972. President Richard Nixon signed a presidential resolution declaring Fathers Day to be the 3rd Sunday in June. According to Hallmark cards, Fathers Day is the year’s fourth-largest card-sending occasion, with over 110 million Fathers Day cards given to Dads every year, just in the United States alone.
While Mothers Day is the biggest ‘holiday’ for phone calls made, Fathers Day is the busiest for collect calls, but the day after Thanksgiving wins for most calls. Both Mothers and Fathers Day calls average eleven minutes in length. So, why is it that children tend to leave the male parent on the hook for their phone charges? Dr. Brenda Wall, a family psychologist in Dallas, Texas, says, “We have a different sociological response to our parents that is gender and role-related. We’ve always looked to mom for love and nurturing. But, when we look to fathers, it’s usually for a business transaction, or something that relates to power, positioning and/or money.”
True Or False? More collect calls are made on Fathers Day than any other day.
TRUE