Let’s Chat: Blue Monday it was not

By Linda Tooth on January 17, 2024.

I have often wondered where the term ‘Blue Monday’ came from and why we are hung up on it. A U.K. travel company thought up the gimmick as a marketing ploy more than 10 years ago and it has stuck with us.

There is no scientific evidence to support this so-called depressing day but let us go with it. Christmas is over, the dreaded credit card bills are coming in, we have overspent on gifts and the weather took a nasty turn.

I spent Christmas Day 2023 on my deck wrapped up in a blanket reading a book, and fast forward it to Jan.13 and 14 and it was so cold at -50C with the wind chill that we could not leave our house, we had no internet and the furnace went on our rental property. Blue Monday has merit.

As a member of the Redcliff Public Library board, we completed a needs assessment in 2023 and discovered we had gaps we needed to fill with community outreach. I contacted Tracy, the manager, and asked about a cat café and she suggested Blue Monday, Jan. 15 as a date.

I went to the Medicine Hat SPCA and picked up four cats and brought them to the library. I was not sure what to expect as our last café had fewer than 5 people, but I am alway up to spending time with people and cats.

Coffee and cookies were supplied by the library and – are you ready for this – more than 20 people spent two hours with myself and Sophie, Nick, Bear and Libby. Ages ranged from an infant under six months to seniors over 60. I was thrilled.

CHAT News also came out and interviewed on the benefits of spending time with animals, especially on Blue Monday. Two junior high students from Parkside were part of the group and told me they had been talking about this event for two weeks and could hardly wait to see the cats.

They asked when the next café would be and I told them as soon as I book it I will let them know. How incredibly impressive is that?

Was it a Blue Monday for me? Not a chance. The sun was shining, the temperature on Monday was certainly better than it was on the weekend, I got to meet new people and make new friends – and I got to spend time with cats.

It was a great Monday and a Meowtastic Day!

Linda Tooth is a Communications instructor at Medicine Hat College

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